Del Potro Overcomes Slow Start To Beat Jarry At Roland Garros
Juan Martin del Potro, playing only his fourth tournament of the year, overcame a slow start and an aggressive Nicolas Jarry, who struck 47 winners, on Tuesday to open his Roland Garros campaign.
The eighth-seeded Argentine, who advanced to the semi-finals last year (l. to Nadal) – as he also did in 2009 (l. to Federer) - knocked out Jarry 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and seven minutes for a place in the second round against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
“I didn't have much energy,” said Del Potro. “I had never played against him and also the weather conditions (were not good)... It's not wonderful to start a match like that. It's something I have to improve in the future. Throughout the match, I felt better. I started dictating the game.”
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Jarry opened up a 3-0 advantage in the first set, which saw last week’s Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open finalist (l. to Zverev) strike 15 winners, including five aces. But Del Potro bounced back to secure early service breaks in the second, third and fourth sets. Del Potro converted five of his 15 break point chances, committing just 21 unforced errors in his 20th victory at Roland Garros (20-8 tournament record).
Chilean Jarry is now 3-3 against Top 10 opposition, including wins against No. 8-ranked Dominic Thiem in the 2018 Hamburg European Open quarter-finals; No. 6-ranked Marin Cilic in the 2018 Rolex Shanghai Masters second round and No. 3-ranked Alexander Zverev last month in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell second round. The World No. 58 drops to 11-12 on the season.
When asked about Jarry, Del Potro admitted, “He has a great potential. He has a very comprehensive tennis. From what I had seen up to now, he's a good player in a good way, capable of winning against any opponent because he's very aggressive… He has a great serve, excellent shots, and on this surface he's playing well and other surfaces certainly well.”
Del Potro, who is rebuilding his confidefence and gaining match form, has played just eight matches since suffering a knee injury in October 2018 at Shanghai.
“I'm feeling better [and] I'm practising regularly," said Del Potro. "I have played already three tournaments up to now. And after this tournament, we'll assess the situation and see what will be my next tournament, if my health is okay. But I'm in a period of transition, [the] rehabilitation of my knee and reaching a perfect state of health and trying to focus again on tennis and results.”
Nishioka grit his teeth to come through a 6-7(7), 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over American Mackenzie McDonald in three hours and eight minutes. The Japanese player, who could not convert two set points at 6/5 and 7/6 in the first set tie-break, won 161 total points to McDonald's 128 points.
"Today was really tough match," said Nishioka, who recorded his first win on Parisian clay. "I had many chances first set and the third set as well, but I couldn't take it. Sometimes it just happen, but I felt a little bit tight and it's not easy situation. I really focused on the match until the end and then I found a way to the win."