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.”

DEL POTRO THROUGH

Juan Martin Del Potro has been defeated by Jeremy Chardy of France in the third round of the Australian Open 2013. Chardy won the match by 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(3/7), 3-6, 6-3. This was a marathon match and went on for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Tsonga bounced back quite well after losing the first couple of sets, but, he couldn’t keep the momentum going in the final set and ended up losing the match.

Chardy made a great start to the match. He broke Del Potro’s service in the second game of the first set and took a lead of 2-0. He maintained that lead till the end of the set and won the first set by 6-3.

Chardy carried on his rhythm in the following set as well. He got breakthroughs in the fifth and the ninth game of the second set and sealed the second set by the same margin of 6-3.

The Frenchman was looking in full control till the end of the second set. But, in the third set, Del Potro re gathered his concentration and things started getting a bit difficult for Chardy. Both the players broke each other’s service in the first two games in the third set and the scores were levelled at 1-1. The next 10 games went with the serve and the set went into the tie breaker. In the tie breaker, Del Potro was bang on target. He played some fine forehand shots and won the tie breaker to seal the third set.

Del Potro’s performance was fantastic in the fourth set as well. There were no breakthroughs in the first 8 games and the scores were levelled at 4-4. Del Potro got a breakthrough in the ninth game and then, he served out the next game to wrap up the set.

After losing two consecutive sets, Chardy came back in the final set. He held his entire serve and with the help of one breakthrough in the eighth game, he won the set and thus, the match.

In the fourth round, Chardy will take on Andreas Seppi of Italy.

THROUGH THE FIRST ROUND

Juan Martin Del Potro has defeated Adrian Mannarino of France in the first round of the Australian Open 2013. Del Potro won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. He was in destructive mood and played outstanding tennis throughout the match. It took him just 1 hour and 16 minutes to win the match and make his way into the second round.

Del Potro made 8 unforced errors in the match, but, he made up for that by smashing a total of 24 winners. Mannarino also hit 20 winners, but, the number of unforced errors made by him was 35 which neutralized the effect of those 20 winners.

Del Potro started the match in a fine fashion. He broke Mannarino’s service thrice in the first set and won the set easily by 6-1 in just 22 minutes.

Del Potro’s aggressive approach didn’t change in the second set at all and Mannarino also helped him by playing too many loose shots. The Argentinean superstar won the second set by 6-2 and put Mannarino under huge pressure.

Mannarino started the third set well by holding his service in the opening game, but, after that, Del Potro was all over him. The Argentinean got breakthroughs in the third and the fifth game and won five games in a row to make the score 5-1. Although, Mannarino served out the seventh game, but, that was too little to prevent his defeat. Del Potro held his service in the eighth game and secured a comfortable win.”

In the post match interview, Del Potro said, “I played with aggression and hit a number of winners. It’s a fantastic start of the competition for me. But, I will have to play better against the tough opponents.”

In the second round, Del Potro will take on the winner of the match between Benjamin Becker and Aljaz Bedene.

STILL NO GRAND SLAM

Juan Martin Del Potro has said that he is disappointed not to have won a grand slam title in 2012. Del Potro has won only one Grand Slam title in his career so far and that too three years back. In 2009, the Argentine player had won the US Open singles title.

Del Potro has been in good form of late. In the recently played ATP World Tour Finals, Del Potro had reached the final four, but, he was defeated by the world no.1 Novak Djokovic in the semi final match. However, Del Potro didn’t let Djokovic win that match easily. He made him work hard for that victory. Del Potro won the first set by 6-4 and at that point of time, he was the favourite to win that match. But, he failed in carrying on the momentum in the following sets. He lost the next couple of sets by 3-6 and 2-6 respectively and was knocked out of the tournament.

Del Potro didn’t have a very good start to the tournament. In his first Round Robin match, he was defeated by David Ferrer. But, he bounced back and thrashed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in the next match. Del Potro defeated Tipsarevic in the straight sets by 6-0, 6-4.

Del Potro had to defeat the Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, in his last Round Robin match to secure a semi final berth and he did that. He beat Federer in a close match by 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3.

After being defeated by Djokovic in the semi finals, Del Potro said, “I think reaching the semi finals in such a big tournament is itself a big achievement. But, it would have been wonderful if I had gone on to win the tournament.”

“I am quite disappointed that I didn’t manage to win a Grand Slam this year. I would try to do that next year.”

MONACO BEATS MARCOS

Juan Martin Del Potro’s countryman, Juan Monaco, has been defeated by Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the second round of the Rakuten Japan Open at Tokyo. Baghdatis won the match by 5-7, 6-1, 3-6.

Monaco who was given the fourth seed in the competition was expected to win the match without having much difficulty, but, that was not the case to be. Baghdatis backed himself and pulled off a great upset. This was the second match between these two players and Baghdatis defeated Monaco for the first time.

After winning the match, Baghdatis said, “I love to play in Japan open. Japan is a wonderful place to play tennis and the fans over here are so intelligent and supportive.”

“It always gives you immense satisfaction when you beat one of the top 10players in the world. I came into the match thinking positively and I tried to play to my strengths. In the second set, Monaco played some incredible shots.”

“It was pretty crucial to make a good start in the final set and luckily, I got it. After that, it was just the matter of not losing the serve.”

In the opening set, Baghdatis held his entire serves and he latched on the only breakpoint that he got in the 11^th game to win the first set by 7-5.

In the second set, Monaco was on fire. He made a brilliant start and broke Baghdatis’ service in the second and the fourth game to take a lead of 5-0. Baghdatis held his serve in the 6^th game, but, that didn’t make any difference to the end result of the set. Monaco wrapped up the set by serving out the seventh game.

But, Monaco didn’t manage to carry on the momentum in the final set. His service was broken in the second game and at the end of the third game, he was trailed by 0-3. He wasn’t able to level the scores after that and lost the match.

In the third round, Baghdatis will play against Dmitry Tursunov of Russia.

DEL PORTO BEATS SERRA

Juan Martin Del Potro has defeated Florent Serra of France in the opening round of the US Open. Del Potro won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-4. The Argentinean player looked in fine nick and flattened his opponent with some immaculate forehand shots. Del Potro, who has been given the 7^th seed in the competition, took 2 hours and 34 minutes to win the match. With this victory, Del Potro has reached the second round where he will play against Ryan Harrison of USA.

The first four games of the first set went with the serve and the scores were levelled at 2-2 at the end of the fourth game. Del Potro capitalized on the breakpoint that he got in the fifth game and broke the service of Serra to get ahead in the set. He held his service in the next game to make the score 4-2. The Argentinean superstar served out the 8^th game and the 10^th game and won the first set by 6-4. In the second set, both the players held their entire serves and the set went into the tie breaker. Del Potro started the tie breaker very well and took a lead of 3-1. He maintained the lead till the end of the tie breaker and sealed the second set as well. In the third set, Serra fought hard and he matched Del Potro shot by shot. There was no breakthrough in the third set till the end of the ninth game and Del Potro was ahead by 5-4 at the end of the ninth game. Serra failed to hold his service in the 10^th game and lost the match.

In the post match interview, Del Potro praised his opponent and said that Serra was very good on his service, but, he got a bit nervous during the vital moments of the match which proved to be costly for him.