The sight had to make all tennis fans, and especially those of Juan Martin del Potro, cringe: the trainer trotting out to visit the Argentine.
Del Potro had his right knee heavily taped after dropping the opener of his second-round match against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka on Thursday at Roland Garros. But the two-time semi-finalist played with the pain and managed to make his way into the third round for the sixth time in Paris 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2.
Del Potro found his way in the second and third sets, crushing forehand winners and mixing in drop shots as Nishioka sagged behind the baseline.
In the fourth, however, Nishioka broke and led 3-1 before evening the match when Del Potro missed a second-serve return forehand wide. The 2009 and 2018 semi-finalist pounced early in the fifth, though, breaking for 3-1 and again to clinch the three-hour, 46-minute affair.
The 6’6” right-hander is playing in only his fourth tournament of the season after breaking his right kneecap last October at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. He tested the injury in February in Delray Beach, only to realise he needed more time for rehab.
Watch: Up Close & Personal With Del Potro In His ‘Road To London’
During the European clay-court swing, Del Potro has made his comeback and shown that he’s truly ready. The 30-year-old reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome, holding two match points against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Thursday’s match, at times, matched its environment – the new Court Simonne-Mathieu, named after the 1938 and 1939 Roland Garros women’s champion who, during World War II, signed up as a volunteer for the French Army.
The court is nestled below four greenhouses, each with plants from a different continent – Australia, Africa, South America, Asia – and watching a match there can feel as relaxing as a stroll through exotic gardens.
Del Potro will hope for a more relaxing scoreline when he next faces Aussie Jordan Thompson. Thompson made his first Round of 32 at a Grand Slam by beating Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3. On Tuesday, the 40-year-old Karlovic became the oldest man to win at Roland Garros since 1973. Thompson went 1-11 at tour-level last year but already is 15-10 this season.
Did You Know? This is the fifth straight year the top eight seeds have reached the third round in Roland Garros. The top 8 seeds have not reached the third round at any of the other 12 Grand Slam events during that time (2015-18 Wimbledon, 2015-18 US Open, 2016-19 Australian Open).
The sight had to make all tennis fans, and especially those of Juan Martin del Potro, cringe: the trainer trotting out to visit the Argentine.
Del Potro had his right knee heavily taped after dropping the opener of his second-round match against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka on Thursday at Roland Garros. But the two-time semi-finalist played with the pain and managed to make his way into the third round for the sixth time in Paris 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2.
Del Potro found his way in the second and third sets, crushing forehand winners and mixing in drop shots as Nishioka sagged behind the baseline.
In the fourth, however, Nishioka broke and led 3-1 before evening the match when Del Potro missed a second-serve return forehand wide. The 2009 and 2018 semi-finalist pounced early in the fifth, though, breaking for 3-1 and again to clinch the three-hour, 46-minute affair.
The 6’6” right-hander is playing in only his fourth tournament of the season after breaking his right kneecap last October at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. He tested the injury in February in Delray Beach, only to realise he needed more time for rehab.
Watch: Up Close & Personal With Del Potro In His ‘Road To London’
During the European clay-court swing, Del Potro has made his comeback and shown that he’s truly ready. The 30-year-old reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome, holding two match points against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Thursday’s match, at times, matched its environment – the new Court Simonne-Mathieu, named after the 1938 and 1939 Roland Garros women’s champion who, during World War II, signed up as a volunteer for the French Army.
The court is nestled below four greenhouses, each with plants from a different continent – Australia, Africa, South America, Asia – and watching a match there can feel as relaxing as a stroll through exotic gardens.
Del Potro will hope for a more relaxing scoreline when he next faces Aussie Jordan Thompson. Thompson made his first Round of 32 at a Grand Slam by beating Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3. On Tuesday, the 40-year-old Karlovic became the oldest man to win at Roland Garros since 1973. Thompson went 1-11 at tour-level last year but already is 15-10 this season.
Did You Know? This is the fifth straight year the top eight seeds have reached the third round in Roland Garros. The top 8 seeds have not reached the third round at any of the other 12 Grand Slam events during that time (2015-18 Wimbledon, 2015-18 US Open, 2016-19 Australian Open).
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal look to continue their impressive Roland Garros runs in third-round action on Friday. Sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas seeks his 32nd tour-level win of the season and 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka faces Grigor Dimitrov in a blockbuster clash.
Third seed Federer takes on #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud, who is competing in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. Casper’s father, Christian Ruud, is a former Top 40 player who reached the third round here in 1995 and 1999. The Swiss star has yet to drop a set this tournament and holds a 67-16 record at the second major of the year. Ruud reached his first ATP Tour final this April in Houston (l. to Garin).
Eleven-time champion and second seed Nadal battles No. 27 seed David Goffin of Belgium. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 3-1 and hasn’t lost a set in their three meetings on clay. The Spaniard has lost just 13 games in his first two rounds this fortnight and is now on a seven-match winning streak on clay. Goffin also dropped 13 games in reaching the third round and is displaying the tennis that brought him to a career-high No. 7 in the ATP Rankings.
Tsitsipas returns to Philippe-Chatrier to face Filip Krajinovic. The Serbian had never won a match on the red clay of Paris prior to this year. Tsitsipas’ results this European clay swing include a stunning win over Nadal en route to a runner-up finish at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Djokovic), semi-final showing at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and his third tour-level title at the Millennium Estoril Open (d. Cuevas).
Wawrinka and Dimitrov are even in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry at 4-4, but the Swiss won their past two meetings in first-round clashes last year at Wimbledon and the US Open. Dimitrov defeated Marin Cilic in five sets on Wednesday for his first Top 15 win since April 2018. Wawrinka seeks his first fourth-round appearance at a major since finishing runner-up here in 2017 (l. to Nadal).
Other notable third-round matches on Friday include seventh seed Kei Nishikori of Japan taking on No. 31 seed Laslo Djere of Serbia and French wild card Nicolas Mahut looking to continue his run against Argentine Leonardo Mayer.
Court Philippe-Chatrier start 11:00
Two WTA matches
[2] Rafael Nadal vs David Goffin
[6] Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Filip Krajinovic
Court Suzanne Lenglen start 11:00
WTA match
[3] Roger Federer vs Casper Ruud
WTA match
[24] Stan Wawrinka vs Grigor Dimitrov
Court Simonne-Mathieu start 11:00
WTA match
Benoit Paire vs Pablo Carreno Busta
Nicolas Mahut vs Leonardo Mayer
WTA match
Court No. 1 start 11:00
Jeremy Chardy / Fabrice Martin vs Matwe Middelkoop / Tim Puetz
[31] Laslo Djere vs [7] Kei Nishikori
[WC] Gregoire Barrere / Quentin Halys vs Alex de Minaur / David Vega Hernandez
Court No. 14 start 11:00
Rajeev Ram / Joe Salisbury vs Enzo Couacaud / Tristan Lamasine
WTA match
[WC] Corentin Moutet vs Juan Ignacio Londero
Court No. 7 start 11:00
[8] Henri Kontinen / John Peers vs Marcelo Demoliner / Divij Sharan
Guido Pella / Diego Schwartzman vs Matteo Berrettini / Lorenzo Sonego
[4] Oliver Marach / Mate Pavic vs Elliot Benchetrit / Geoffrey Blancaneaux
Dominic Inglot / Martin Klizan vs Leander Paes / Benoit Paire
Court No. 6 start 11:00
Dusan Lajovic / Janko Tipsarevic vs Denys Molchanov / Igor Zelenay
WTA match
[WC] Benjamin Bonzi / Antoine Hoang vs Rohan Bopanna / Marius Copil
Federico Delbonis / Guillermo Duran vs Miomir Kecmanovic / Casper Ruud
Court No. 9 start 11:00 Two WTA matches
Ricardas Berankis / Yoshihito Nishioka vs [10] Jean-Julien Rojer / Horia Tecau
Court No. 12 start 11:00 Pablo Cuevas / Feliciano Lopez vs Mikhail Kukushkin / Joran Vliegen
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal look to continue their impressive Roland Garros runs in third-round action on Friday. Sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas seeks his 32nd tour-level win of the season and 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka faces Grigor Dimitrov in a blockbuster clash.
Third seed Federer takes on #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud, who is competing in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. Casper’s father, Christian Ruud, is a former Top 40 player who reached the third round here in 1995 and 1999. The Swiss star has yet to drop a set this tournament and holds a 67-16 record at the second major of the year. Ruud reached his first ATP Tour final this April in Houston (l. to Garin).
Eleven-time champion and second seed Nadal battles No. 27 seed David Goffin of Belgium. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 3-1 and hasn’t lost a set in their three meetings on clay. The Spaniard has lost just 13 games in his first two rounds this fortnight and is now on a seven-match winning streak on clay. Goffin also dropped 13 games in reaching the third round and is displaying the tennis that brought him to a career-high No. 7 in the ATP Rankings.
Tsitsipas returns to Philippe-Chatrier to face Filip Krajinovic. The Serbian had never won a match on the red clay of Paris prior to this year. Tsitsipas’ results this European clay swing include a stunning win over Nadal en route to a runner-up finish at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Djokovic), semi-final showing at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and his third tour-level title at the Millennium Estoril Open (d. Cuevas).
Wawrinka and Dimitrov are even in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry at 4-4, but the Swiss won their past two meetings in first-round clashes last year at Wimbledon and the US Open. Dimitrov defeated Marin Cilic in five sets on Wednesday for his first Top 15 win since April 2018. Wawrinka seeks his first fourth-round appearance at a major since finishing runner-up here in 2017 (l. to Nadal).
Other notable third-round matches on Friday include seventh seed Kei Nishikori of Japan taking on No. 31 seed Laslo Djere of Serbia and French wild card Nicolas Mahut looking to continue his run against Argentine Leonardo Mayer.
Court Philippe-Chatrier start 11:00
Two WTA matches
[2] Rafael Nadal vs David Goffin
[6] Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Filip Krajinovic
Court Suzanne Lenglen start 11:00
WTA match
[3] Roger Federer vs Casper Ruud
WTA match
[24] Stan Wawrinka vs Grigor Dimitrov
Court Simonne-Mathieu start 11:00
WTA match
Benoit Paire vs Pablo Carreno Busta
Nicolas Mahut vs Leonardo Mayer
WTA match
Court No. 1 start 11:00
Jeremy Chardy / Fabrice Martin vs Matwe Middelkoop / Tim Puetz
[31] Laslo Djere vs [7] Kei Nishikori
[WC] Gregoire Barrere / Quentin Halys vs Alex de Minaur / David Vega Hernandez
Court No. 14 start 11:00
Rajeev Ram / Joe Salisbury vs Enzo Couacaud / Tristan Lamasine
WTA match
[WC] Corentin Moutet vs Juan Ignacio Londero
Court No. 7 start 11:00
[8] Henri Kontinen / John Peers vs Marcelo Demoliner / Divij Sharan
Guido Pella / Diego Schwartzman vs Matteo Berrettini / Lorenzo Sonego
[4] Oliver Marach / Mate Pavic vs Elliot Benchetrit / Geoffrey Blancaneaux
Dominic Inglot / Martin Klizan vs Leander Paes / Benoit Paire
Court No. 6 start 11:00
Dusan Lajovic / Janko Tipsarevic vs Denys Molchanov / Igor Zelenay
WTA match
[WC] Benjamin Bonzi / Antoine Hoang vs Rohan Bopanna / Marius Copil
Federico Delbonis / Guillermo Duran vs Miomir Kecmanovic / Casper Ruud
Court No. 9 start 11:00 Two WTA matches
Ricardas Berankis / Yoshihito Nishioka vs [10] Jean-Julien Rojer / Horia Tecau
Court No. 12 start 11:00 Pablo Cuevas / Feliciano Lopez vs Mikhail Kukushkin / Joran Vliegen
For only the second time in 11 main draw matches at Roland Garros, Alexander Zverev recorded a straight sets triumph on Wednesday.
The fifth-seeded German will be relieved to have weathered a late comeback by Mikael Ymer of Sweden in a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(3) victory in just under two hours for a place in the third round for a third straight year.
“I think I’m playing well again,” said Zverev. “I think a lot of tight matches have helped me in Geneva and here in the first round. Today, I was swinging at the ball quite nicely and hitting it very aggressively and it was a very good match for me.
“In important moments, I’m finally being very aggressive and stepping up. I think especially against John [Millman] in the fifth set I stepped up a lot and this is, I think, what I’m happiest about.”
The 22-year-old struck 36 winners — including 12 aces — lost just 10 of his first-service points and won 20 of 27 points at the net. He was in complete control through to 5-3 in the third set against Ymer, was making his major championship debut this week, before the World No. 148 won three straight games. Zverev regrouped to win eight of the next 10 points to a 4/0 advantage in the tie-break.
Zverev will now face Serbian No. 30 seed Dusan Lajovic, who the German beat 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the 2018 Roland Garros second round. Lajovic, who has gone 3-4 since advancing to the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final (l. to Fognini) on 21 April, knocked out French qualifier Elliot Benchetrit 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes.
Zverev is riding a six-match winning streak, which includes saving two match points against Nicolas Jarry in the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open final on Saturday for his 11th ATP Tour title.
For only the second time in 11 main draw matches at Roland Garros, Alexander Zverev recorded a straight sets triumph on Wednesday.
The fifth-seeded German will be relieved to have weathered a late comeback by Mikael Ymer of Sweden in a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(3) victory in just under two hours for a place in the third round for a third straight year.
“I think I’m playing well again,” said Zverev. “I think a lot of tight matches have helped me in Geneva and here in the first round. Today, I was swinging at the ball quite nicely and hitting it very aggressively and it was a very good match for me.
“In important moments, I’m finally being very aggressive and stepping up. I think especially against John [Millman] in the fifth set I stepped up a lot and this is, I think, what I’m happiest about.”
The 22-year-old struck 36 winners — including 12 aces — lost just 10 of his first-service points and won 20 of 27 points at the net. He was in complete control through to 5-3 in the third set against Ymer, was making his major championship debut this week, before the World No. 148 won three straight games. Zverev regrouped to win eight of the next 10 points to a 4/0 advantage in the tie-break.
Zverev will now face Serbian No. 30 seed Dusan Lajovic, who the German beat 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the 2018 Roland Garros second round. Lajovic, who has gone 3-4 since advancing to the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final (l. to Fognini) on 21 April, knocked out French qualifier Elliot Benchetrit 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes.
Zverev is riding a six-match winning streak, which includes saving two match points against Nicolas Jarry in the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open final on Saturday for his 11th ATP Tour title.
