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...
Once it starts, it comes quickly, that Rafael Nadal tsunami of momentum and forehands. For 57 minutes, the 10-time champion's efforts to race through the opening set at Roland Garros were stymied again and again by Guido Pella. The Argentine saved six break points in the opener. But Nadal, on his fifth set point, broke through and the games flowed from there as the Spaniard coasted to a 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 win on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. “I'm happy about the things that happened this afternoon, of course. I played a solid match, and it's true that during the match I improved the level. The forehand, especially after the first set, I think it starts to go quicker and find more of...
Ever since losing in the first round of this year’s Australian Open, Kevin Anderson has been on a tear. The South African won his first tour-level title since 2015 in New York and advanced to at least the quarter-finals at four more events, including three at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000-level (Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid). The run has helped him surge to a career-best No. 7 in the ATP Rankings. Anderson continued his hot run Thursday on the terre battue, defeating six-time ATP World Tour clay-court champion Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to advance to the third round, where he will face German Mischa Zverev. The left-hander beat Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-1, despite having never...
Germany’s Maximilian Marterer caused an upset at Roland Garros on Thursday in an all-lefty match against #NextGenATP Canadian star Denis Shapovalov, the 2017 ATP Most Improved Player of the Year. Shapovalov led by a set and 3-0, but Marterer fought back to triumph 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5, 6-4 for a place in the third round of a Grand Slam championship for the second time (also 2018 Australian Open). Shapovalov, the No. 24 seed, who like Marterer had been making his Roland Garros debut this year, struck 14 winners and lost just one of his first service points in the 45-minute opener. Although he won the first three games, the 19-year-old he was forced to save three break points. He ended his...
Marin Cilic played with greater confidence on Thursday at Roland Garros, but experienced a tough route into the third round after he failed to convert one match point chance in the third set. The third-seeded Croatian recorded his 20th match win of the season (20-8) by beating past 21-year-old Polish qualifier Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-5 in two hours and 50 minutes. "I felt that I just took my foot off the gas and just gave him a little bit more room to breathe," Cilic said. "I felt like I was constantly close to breaking. I just felt like I was not returning as good as I can and just missed some returns, especially in some critical moments. And...
