JDP BEATS MALISSE

Juan Martin Del Potro has defeated Xavier Malisse of Belgium in the second round of the ongoing AEGON Championships. Del Potro won the match in three sets by 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-5.

This was a comeback match for Del Potro. He had not taken part in the recently played French Open because of a viral infection and then, in the opening round here, he had got a bye. So, this was his first match in the last 6 weeks or so. The Argentinean superstar looked rusty at times, but, somehow, he managed to pull off the win and moved ahead.

In the post match interview, Del Potro said, “It’s nice to make a comeback with a win. I desperately want to do well in this tournament and go into the Wimbledon Championships with a positive mindset. I have started well; hopefully, I will carry the momentum on.”

In the first set, neither of the two players managed to sneak a breakthrough in the first 12 games and the set went into the tie breaker.

Both the players were going neck-and-neck in the tie breaker as well, but, towards  the end, Malisse lost his concentration a bit and Del Potro sneaked a couple of  important  points to win the tie breaker and the set as well.

In the second set, Malisse was in a furious mood. He played some exceptional strokes and bagged the first 5 games consecutively. Del Potro held his serve in the 6^th game, but, that was not enough. He required two breakthroughs to pull things back, but, he couldn’t get those. The Belgian player served out the 7^th game and that was the end of the set.

In the third set, both the players dropped their serve once in the first 10 games and the scores were equalized at 5-5 at the end of the 10^th game. In the 11^th game, Malisse got three break opportunities, but, he couldn’t take advantage of either of them. By playing some ordinary strokes, he allowed Del Potro to hold his serve and that was the turning point of the match.

Del Potro showed his class in the next game and broke Malisse’s serve to finish off the match.

In the third round, Del Potro will face the winner of the match between Jarkko Nieminen and Daniel Evans.