It was a seamless transition for Juan Martin del Potro in his first match of the season on clay at the Mutua Madrid Open.
The BNP Paribas Open champion (d. Federer) took just 80 minutes to book his place in the second round on Tuesday, beating Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-3.
Del Potro won 66 per cent of points on serve and broke the World No. 32 for the fourth time to secure his first win of the tournament. The first-round match was Del Potro’s first appearance on the ATP World Tour since John Isner snapped his 15-match win streak in the Miami Open presented by Itaú semi-finals. Del Potro had won back-to-back titles in Acapulco and Indian Wells prior to the loss. With victory over Dzumhur, Del Potro has now moved one win clear of Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem with an ATP World Tour-leading 22 match victories this season (22-4).
The World No. 6 will meet Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, for the first time, with a place in the quarter-finals on the line. Lajovic moved into the third round after dominating two tie-break sets against World No. 29 Richard Gasquet 7-6(1), 7-6(1).
Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut overcame American Jared Donaldson 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round. The 2014 semi-finalist (l. to Nadal) broke the 21-year-old on five occasions, winning 71 per cent of first-serve points (50/70) to wrap up the win after two hours and 29 minutes. Bautista Agut improves to 17-9 this season, having already lifted ATP World Tour titles in Auckland and Dubai in 2018.
The World No. 14 will meet Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber for the fifth time in the second round. The pair are tied at 2-2 in their FedEx ATPHead2Head series, with the German winning their most recent encounter at the BMW Open by FWU last week. Kohlschreiber reached the second round after a 6-4, 6-3 win over Japan's Yuichi Sugita. The World No. 28 hit four aces and won 100 per cent of second-serve points (11/11) to progress after 68 minutes.
Did You Know?
Juan Martin del Potro owns a 14-6 record at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Argentine has twice reached the semi-finals at the Caja Magica, falling to Roger Federer in 2009 and Tomas Berdych in 2012.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2Ir9hzw
No comments:
Post a Comment