It was like dêjà vu for Juan Martin del Potro at Roland Garros on Thursday. For the second time in three days, he was competing in front of an energetic Parisian crowd that was cheering on a home favourite. There was something else that remained the same: Del Potro came out on top. The No. 5 seed moved past Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the third round on the terre battue for the second consecutive year. Previously, the Argentine had not competed at the French Grand Slam since 2012. "I feel better than in the first round. I was able to make more winners, to run better," Del Potro said. "The level of my game was a...
Regarding Juan Martin del Potro's chances at Roland Garros, where were we? The Argentine, despite his subpar play on clay so far this year, was one of a limited number of men who could think about challenging Rafael Nadal on the red dirt. But then Del Potro injured his groin against David Goffin on 17 May in Rome. On Tuesday, however, the fifth-seeded Del Potro let everyone resume the conversation as he dismissed Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in four sets. Del Potro showed that he's healthy, back and – although clay isn't his favourite surface – eager for more. He'll face another Frenchman on Thursday in Julien Benneteau. The 36-year-old is playing at Roland Garros for the final time after announcing...
Watch highlights as Juan Martin del Potro overcomes a slow start to beat Nicolas Mahut on Tuesday for a place in the Roland Garros second round. Video courtesy of Roland Garros. Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP World Tour.
For a half hour on Tuesday at Roland Garros, 36-year-old Nicolas Mahut turned back time. The French wild card was dominating fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro, drop shotting the 6'6” Argentine and serving and volleying as if he was on the The Queen's Club grass. Twenty-five minutes into their first-round match, Mahut led 6-1 and had the French crowd on Court Suzanne-Lenglen eager for more. But the party soon ended. Del Potro, perhaps nervous about testing his injured groin, eventually settled his game and started to solve Mahut's serve-and-volley style. The Argentine sprinted through the second set in 31 minutes, and repeated the act two more times to advance 1-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. “I know he starts very slow,...
First-round play reaches its conclusion on Tuesday at Roland Garros, and while plenty of stars took to the courts during the Grand Slam's first two days, tournament officials have saved some of the best first-round matchups for the last of their opening days. Third seed Marin Cilic kicks off play on Court Philippe-Chatrier against Aussie James Duckworth. Cilic reached his maiden ATP World Tour clay-court semi-final at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia earlier this month (l. to Zverev), snapping a five-match losing streak in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court quarter-finals. [ALSO LIKE] The Croatian has reached two of the past three Grand Slam title matches (Wimbledon 2017, l. to Federer; Australian Open 2018, l. to Federer). He posted his best...