Friday 19 / April / 2024
London: There is a reason why Juan Martin del Potro went under the knife — over... and over... and over again.
Three wrist operations since his last appearance at Wimbledon in 2013 meant Del Potro had had more appointments with surgeons and physiotherapists than on-court engagements with tennis professionals over the past 27 months.
On Friday, the gentle giant from Argentina showed why all the pain and scars -- both physical and mental — were worth it as he toppled fourth seed Stan Wawrinka 3-6 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 under a closed Centre Court roof in the second round of Wimbledon.
"It feels amazing. I beat one of the guys who is playing great tennis this season and I couldn't have expected this before today," a trembling Del Potro said.
"I was really sad for the last two years and now I am enjoying playing tennis again. My hands shaking is a great sensation for me because I'm playing tennis again and I feel alive," he added.
Del Potro, world number 165, was feeling "so alive" that by the time the match hit the mid-way point of the second set, Wawrinka did not know what had hit him.
The Swiss, who won grand slam titles in Melbourne and Paris in the last 2 1/2 years, was probably left wishing Del Potro's surgeon had not done such a good job of fixing the stricken left wrist which he uses to belt his trademark double-handed backhand.
A break for 3-1 was enough for Del Potro to bag the second set and he marked the moment with a clenched-fist salute to his supporters.
While spectators on the outside courts had to make do with watching an army of groundstaff dragging the green covers on and off with comical frequency, Del Potro's flowing racket skills lifted the spirits of the soggy fans sitting atop Wimbledon's Henman Hill and following proceedings on the giant TV screen.
By the time the players swapped serves for four successive games at the start of the third set, Wawrinka knew he was in for a torrid afternoon against the 2009 U.S. Open champion.
A forehand long handed the 6-foot-6 Del Potro the third set tiebreak and the Argentine proved his patched-up wrist could go blow-for-blow with Wawrinka's thundering groundstrokes in the fourth as he finished a 21-shot rally with a nerveless volley.
Wawrinka saved two break points in the sixth game, with an ace and a beautiful backhand winner, but his luck ran out two games later as an erratic backhand handed Del Potro the break.
When the Swiss whipped a backhand wide on match point to complete another miserable outing at the only major in which he has yet to reach at least the semi-final, it completed a remarkable comeback from the tennis wilderness for his opponent.
"After my third surgery, I've been trying to play tennis again. It is like my second or third career in my short life," said Del Potro who will next face Lucas Pouille.
"I didn't know if I could be in the top position again... after all the injuries," the 27-year-old added.
"To be in the third round in my first grand slam after three years, it means a lot to me. I'm excited to go far in the tournament."
Tsonga, Berdych and Kyrgios advance
Meanwhile, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was in no mood to hang about on Friday, racing to a one-set lead in just 18 minutes against Argentina's Juan Monaco some three hours after they first warmed up on another rain-interrupted day at Wimbledon.
The pair were among eight matchups at the bottom of the men's draw waiting to play their round two matches at the start of day five, while players in the top half, like Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, were scheduled to play round three.
Monaco put the brakes on the Frenchman in the second and third sets and Tsonga's service level dipped, but the 12th seed won through 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour 23 minutes — the third fastest men's match of the tournament so far.
The rain delays, which had also held up eight women's second round ties, have prompted organisers to consider playing matches on Sunday, usually a rest day.
Tsonga, twice a semi-finalist at the grasscourt major, and Monaco, a former top-10 player, warmed up in drizzle around noon but the match was suspended before a ball was struck in earnest.
Speaking of his relief at finally reaching the third round, he said: "... especially because now today I'm waiting for my match. So, yeah, I'm really happy the way it goes today because it's better to go back home tonight than stay here."
Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych also sped through to beat the rain, downing Germany's Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 and taking just a minute longer than Tsonga to secure his place in round three.
Berdych was sanguine about how the rain dice rolled.
"I think it's fair. In the first round I was ... I about to finish a couple of points and then get rain delay overnight. Came next day and he was obviously better at the start," he told reporters, referring to his four-set first-round win over Croatian Ivan Dodig.
"So that one was, I would say, unlucky. This one I was lucky."
France's Lucas Pouille, seeded 32, also made it through, defeating American Donald Young and men's 15th seed Nick Kyrgios of Australia beat German Dustin Brown 6-7(3), 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round.
Serena, Venus survive
Serena Williams composed herself after a first-set loss and a burst of anger to vanquish tenacious fellow American Christina McHale 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-4 in a nail-biting second-round match at Wimbledon on Friday.
The defending champion finally ran out a winner against the world number 65, marching on in her quest to emulate Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 grand slam singles titles.
Williams thought she had won the first set and was walking back to her chair after a McHale forehand was called long with the world number one 5-4 and 40-30 up. To her chagrin, however, a Hawkeye challenge showed the ball brushing the baseline.
McHale went on to win the game and force a tiebreak in which a rattled Williams made a string of errors, including two double faults, before burying a forehand into the net to lose the set.
Furious as she sat down, she hammered her racket into the ground in frustration before hurling it behind her.
But the 34-year-old put the disappointment behind her and showed the battling form that has won her six Wimbledon crowns to take the next two sets, closing out the two-and-a-half hour match with three aces.
Meanwhile outside the centre court, experience wrestled aside youth at Wimbledon on Friday when Venus Williams, at 36 the oldest woman in the draw, overcame rain interruptions and Russian teenager Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 to reach the fourth round.
Kasatkina, 19, demonstrated clearly how she has leapt 128 places up the rankings in the last year, saving two match points, one after a lengthy rain stoppage.
The women were forced off court with Williams on match point as the heavens opened for a third time in the match, the scoreboard showing 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 and 40-30 in the eighth seed's favour. Kasatkina won the next three points using a hefty serve.
"This was like something out of a movie," a beaming Williams said.
Five-times champion Williams, who suffered peaks and troughs of form throughout the two hour 41 minute match, finally downed the 29th-seeded Wimbledon debutant on her third match point with a thundering return that the Russian dumped in the net.
Kasatkina was just a few weeks old when Williams first played at Wimbledon in 1997 and it was the older woman who held her nerve to the last.
"It wasn't easy to play out there today," the American said.
