DEL POTRO DEFEATS ISNER AT COUPE ROGERS

Argentina international Juan Martin delPotro defeated John Isner at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal 7-5 7-5.

The 2009 Montreal finalist – before losing to Andy Murray – missed the 2015 edition but says he was glad to be back. He is 11-0 in opening round games this term even though he never faced break point. He got two breaks of serve needed to dispatch Isner at the ATP World Tour Masters.

“It’s amazing for me. I missed this tournament a lot. I couldn’t play the last editions because of my wrist. But now I’m in good shape. I have the chance to play after many years, and I started by winning a good match against Isner,” he said after the hard fought victory.

Del Potro is happy to continue after losing in the third round of the Citi Open to Kei Nishikori. Isner was yet to drop a set since losing to Israeli DudiSela at Wimbledon 2017. Del Potro ended Isner’s winning streak, recording his own 16th match win this season. The American was a big server, erasing two break points to tie 5-5 before Del Potro’s killer forehand winner.

“He [Isner] has a great serve. His movements from the baseline are getting better. It’s, of course, a tough first round for both of us. It could be a quarterfinal, could be a semi-final of any tournament. But we play today, and I got lucky to win tonight,” Del Potro added. He would face either of Denis Shapovalov or Rogerio Dutra Silva in the next round.

In other games, Peter Polansky set up a second round meeting with Federer after defeating VasekPospisil 7-5, 6-2; David Ferrer, 35, would face either of Jack Sock or Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the second round after a hard fought win against Kyle Edmund; Third seed Dominic Thiem would clash with Diego Schwartzman next.