JDP BEATS MALISSE

Juan Martin Del Potro has defeated Xavier Malisse of Belgium in the second round of the ongoing AEGON Championships. Del Potro won the match in three sets by 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-5.

This was a comeback match for Del Potro. He had not taken part in the recently played French Open because of a viral infection and then, in the opening round here, he had got a bye. So, this was his first match in the last 6 weeks or so. The Argentinean superstar looked rusty at times, but, somehow, he managed to pull off the win and moved ahead.

In the post match interview, Del Potro said, “It’s nice to make a comeback with a win. I desperately want to do well in this tournament and go into the Wimbledon Championships with a positive mindset. I have started well; hopefully, I will carry the momentum on.”

In the first set, neither of the two players managed to sneak a breakthrough in the first 12 games and the set went into the tie breaker.

Both the players were going neck-and-neck in the tie breaker as well, but, towards  the end, Malisse lost his concentration a bit and Del Potro sneaked a couple of  important  points to win the tie breaker and the set as well.

In the second set, Malisse was in a furious mood. He played some exceptional strokes and bagged the first 5 games consecutively. Del Potro held his serve in the 6^th game, but, that was not enough. He required two breakthroughs to pull things back, but, he couldn’t get those. The Belgian player served out the 7^th game and that was the end of the set.

In the third set, both the players dropped their serve once in the first 10 games and the scores were equalized at 5-5 at the end of the 10^th game. In the 11^th game, Malisse got three break opportunities, but, he couldn’t take advantage of either of them. By playing some ordinary strokes, he allowed Del Potro to hold his serve and that was the turning point of the match.

Del Potro showed his class in the next game and broke Malisse’s serve to finish off the match.

In the third round, Del Potro will face the winner of the match between Jarkko Nieminen and Daniel Evans.

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Del Potro Video clip Rating: four / five

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Del Potro Video clip Rating: / 5

DEL POTRO THROUGH IN MONTE CARLO

Juan Martin Del Potro has defeated Alexandr Dogopolov of Ukraine in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. Del Potro won the match by 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

This was the fourth match between these two players and Del Potro has won all those 4 matches.

Del Potro had defeated Dogopolov in straight sets in the previous three meetings, but, this time, that didn’t happen. In the opening set, the Argentinean looked completely off colour. Dogopolov took advantage of that and with breakthroughs in the 4^th and the 6^th game; he won the opening set easily by 6-1.

Del Potro bounced back and had a better start in the second set. He got a breakthrough in the second game and took a lead of 2-0. But, he lost that lead soon. He dropped his serve in the 3^rd game and then, a serve hold by Dogopolov in the next game levelled the scores.

The next 5 games went with the serve and when the 9^th game was completed, Del Potro had a lead of 5-4. The Argentinean broke Dogopolov’s serve for the second time in the set in the 10^th game and won the second set by 6-4.

In the third and final set, none of the players dropped his serve in the first three games and Del Potro was ahead by 2-1.

With a serve break in the 4^th game, Del Potro extended his lead to 3-1, but, only to be broken back in the next game. The match was becoming more and more exciting with each game.

Del Potro got another breakthrough in the 6^th game and this time, he didn’t lose the advantage. A serve hold in the next game took him ahead by 5-2.

Dogopolov served out the 8^th game to decrease the lead to 3-5, but, that wasn’t going to save him. The breakthroughs were needed, but, he didn’t get those. Del Potro held his serve in the 9^th game and that was the end of the match.

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Del Potro Video Rating: four / five

DEL POTRO BACKS MURRAY

The runner up in the recently played BNP Paribas Open, Juan Martin Del Potro, has said that Andy Murray has a good chance of becoming the no. 1 player in the world this year.

Del Potro defeated Murray a few days ago in the quarter final of the BNP Paribas Open. The Argentinean superstar might again be facing Murray in the upcoming Aegon Championships.

Talking to the reporters about Murray, Del Potro said, “Murray is turning into a great player. His record in the last year and a half has been fantastic. He won the US Open and reached the finals in the Australian Open as well. He possesses all the qualities which are needed to become the world no. 1”

“He is currently at no. 3 and he has a very good opportunity to reach the top of the rankings in this season.”

This year some big players will be playing in the Aegon Championships which has made the tournament exciting. Del Potro, Murray and Tomas Berdych are those three big names which will be taking part in the tournament. The tournament will start from 10^th of June and will be played at Queen’s Park.

Del Potro used to struggle while playing on the grass courts in the earlier parts of his career. But, he has improved his game on the grass courts in the recent years and last year, he won a bronze medal in the singles competition of Olympics which was played on the grass courts.

The Aegon Championships will also be played on the grass courts. When asked about that, Del Potro said, “I like playing on grass courts now. If you look at my performance on the grass courts in the last few months, it’s not bad. In fact, I have defeated some quality players on the grass courts. So, I am looking forward to this tournament.”