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By Chris Oddo
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Photo Credit: Bernat Armangue / AP |
(May 27, 2012)—Juan Martin del Potro looked to be in big trouble after splitting the first two sets of his first-round match with veteran Spaniard Albert Montanes today, but he took control of the affair in the final two sets to win 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-1.
“It was a tough match to start the tournament,” said Del Potro. “All the Spanish players on clay are really difficult to play.”
Probably more concerning for the No. 9 seed was the fact that he had to receive treatment on his left knee during the match and he finished the match with heavy strapping in that area.
According to Del Potro, he first started to feel pain at Madrid a few weeks ago. The pain hasn’t receded yet, in spite of lots of long hours with his physio team.
“Even [with] my knee problem I think I played well, in the beginning of the match, and again in the end,” Del Potro said. “I will have two days to work with the physio on my knee so I have time to recover and to be in good shape for the next match.”
Del Potro converted four of five break points in sets three and four, while saving each of the three break points he faced against Montanes. In the final set, the tall Argentine hit 10 winners, won 8 points at net, and won 27 of 41 points against the 30-year-old.
Del Potro was sloppy at times over the course of the match, particularly in a second set that featured 24 of his 39 unforced errors on the day, but he played best on the big points, saving 11 of 12 break points faced on the afternoon.
Del Potro, a former French Open semifinalist, will face Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the second round. Roger-Vasselin defeated Vasek Pospisil of Canada in four sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Del Potro lost in his only previous encounter with the Frenchman, bowing out 6-4, 6-4 in Tokyo to him in 2009.