By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, June 3, 2017
Andy Murray fought off four set points in the opener grinding through the dangerous Juan Martin del Potro, 7-6 (8), 7-5, 6-0, to reach the Roland Garros fourth round.
Photo credit: Roland Garros
Surround sound came to Court Philippe Chatrier today.
The crowd erupted in one collective voice chanting “Delpo! Delpo!” exhorting Juan Martin del Potro to make a second-set stand against Andy Murray.
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The world No. 1 faced the sound and fury and responded with his most dynamic tennis of this clay-court season.
A tenacious Murray fought off four set points in the opener grinding through the dangerous del Potro in a 7-6 (8), 7-5, 6-0, triumph that was much more dramatic than the scoreline suggests.
''Yeah, I expected a very tough match,” Murray said after raising his record against the Argentine to 7-3. “And the first set was very, very important, I think, for the rest of the match. Whoever had won that first set had big momentum. In these conditions, when it's slow and heavy, to be coming back is difficult.''
Prevailing in a tense two hour, 53-minute test, Murray advanced to the French Open fourth round for the eighth time. The 2016 finalist will face either 21st-seeded John Isner or 53rd-ranked Russian powerhouse Karen Khachanov for a quarterfinal spot.
The match was a rematch of last summer’s Rio Olympic gold-medal match.
Murray prevailed in that meeting making history by defending his gold medal before del Potro gained a measure of revenge outdueling Murray in a four-hour epic in the Davis Cup semifinals last September as he carried Argentina to its first Davis Cup championship in history.
Whenever and wherever these two meet, rallies can erupt like fireworks and today’s 10th encounter—their first clay-court clash in eight years—did not disappoint.
For two sets, it glittered with some tremendous running strikes, tension and nerves from both men.
Playing Paris for the first time in five years, del Potro had his moments—and chances to snatch a one-set lead.
Down 3-5, Murray saved a set point before fending off another set point when del Potro served for the opener at 5-4.
The 2009 US Open champion thumped an ace down the middle to force tie break.
Opening the breaker with his first double fault, Murray was down 3-4 when he pulled two successful serve-and-volley plays for 5-4. A daring drop shot from the Scot brought him two set points at 6-4.
Raising his level, del Potro slid a slice backhand to save the first and denied the second on a Murray backhand error.
Pouncing on a net cord rebound, Murray slapped a mid-court forehand crosscourt, but a lunging del Potro wristed back a forehand winner for a third set point at 7-6.
In a moment he may well rue, del Potro double-faulted off the tape bouncing his Wilson racket off the side of his head in frustration. A low forehand volley down the line gave the Argentine a fourth set point, but Murray saved it with some committed heavy hitting.
Tormenting the big man with another deft drop shot, Murray earned his third set point at 9-8. This time, he converted.
Del Potro ended a dizzying 16-minute tiebreak narrowly missing the line with a forehand drive.
Chair umpire Carlos Bernardes called the linesman out to identify the mark. He did so without hesitation and a deeply disconsolate del Potro leaned on the net for several moments staring at the mark and reflecting on a riveting 85-minute set that slipped away.
"Too much frustration," del Potro said. "I couldn't believe I lost that set."
The top seed served for a two-set lead at 5-4, but del Potro unloaded on some sweeping forehands breaking back on a Murray forehand error as the crowd erupted in chants of "Delpo! Delpo!".
Undeterred, Murray burst out to a triple break point lead in the 11th game. Del Potro erased all three. But on his fourth break point, Murray used a brilliant drop shot-lob combination to create the crucial break.
The Wimbledon winner slashed an ace down the middle for a two-set lead.
A depleted del Potro, who took treatment for a groin injury in his second-round win over Nicolas Almagro after dealing with shoulder and back issues in Lyon last week, was physically and emotionally spent as Murray rolled through the third set at love.
It was the first shutout set in the 33 sets these two champions have played against each other.
A merciless Marin Cilic crushed Feliciano Lopez, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
The seventh-seeded Croatian tripled the Spanish left-hander’s winner output—31 to 10—and broke serve seven times in a one hour, 47-minute victory.
The 2014 US Open champion, who has not dropped a set in Paris, will play for his first trip to the French Open quarterfinals when he faces Kevin Anderson next. Cilic is the 2005 Roland Garros boys’ champion.
Anderson backed up his second-round upset of 18th-seeded Nick Kyrgios with a 6-7 (8), 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 conquest of Kyle Edmund. Anderson smacked 24 aces and dropped serve just once in a draining four-hour victory to advance to the fourth round for the third time in the last five years.
The eighth-ranked Cilic has won five of six encounters with Anderson, who prevailed in the pair’s lone clay-court clash at the 2013 Rome.
Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco continued his impressive run through the field taking down another seed.
The 33-year-old Verdasco converted eight of 13 break points punishing Pablo Cuevas, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.
Verdasco, who opened the tournament toppling ninth-seeded Alexander Zverev, is through to the round of 16 for the sixth time in 14 appearances. He will play either eighth-seeded Kei Nishikori or South Korea’s Hyeon Chung for a spot in the quarterfinals.