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.

Juan Martin Del Potro Backhands in Slow Motion

Del Potro Video Ranking: four / 5

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.”

Juan Martin del Potro Forehand in Slow Motion HD

Del Potro Video clip Rating: five / 5

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.

Roger Federer Training/Practice with Juan Martin Del Potro at Court 1 ABN AMRO WTT

Del Potro Movie Rating: 4 / 5