ATP Rome: Djokovic wins late night thriller against del Potro
Juan Martin del Potro just missed a big surprise at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome. The Argentinian lost to world number one Novak Djokovic 6: 4, 6: 7 (6) and 4: 6 and awarded two match balls in the tie-break of the second set.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: May 18, 2019, 01:10 am
The eagerly awaited match quickly developed into a duel at an impressive level. Djokovic missed all of his six break chances in the first set, while del Potro was able to use one of his two opportunities and win the first section 6: 4 after over an hour of play.
The Argentinian backhand worked particularly well. While del Potro got into a frenzy, Djokovic struggled with some unevenness. Above all, however, his opponent's playing style must have given him an enormous headache.
In the second set, it was just a space error that helped the world number one to 4: 2. When the score was 5-2, Djokovic even found a set ball at serve del Potro, but the Serb could not use it and a little later at 5: 5 was suddenly only two games away from the elimination.
Djokovic fends off two match balls
Both players played their next service game and so a tie break had to make the decision. In this it was initially as close as in the entire set before del Potro went 5-3 in the lead. Shortly afterwards, del Potro earned two match balls with great cheers from the numerous supporters of the Tandils tower.
The Argentine awarded the first with a simple forehand error, while the second Djokovic played an unreachable stop. In this phase, the Serb once again demonstrated why he has been the dominant force in men's tennis for years. The 31-year-old had the momentum, took the quick decision 8: 6 and forced a third round well after midnight.
Before the beginning of the third set del Potro had to be treated on the right foot due to a toe injury. However, this did not seem to seriously hamper the 30-year-old. The ninth in the world rankings found three break chances at the score of 2: 1, but left them all unused. This should take revenge: Again the Argentinean made a simple forehand at a big point and Djokovic made the break to 3: 2.
Schwartzman is waiting for Djokovic
This loss of impact took the wind away from del Potro's sails. Djokovic hardly had any problems with his own service games and after a little more than three hours of play with an ace, he turned his first match ball into a hard-fought 4: 6, 7: 6 (6) and 6: 4 victory.
By defeating del Potro, Djokovic fixed a semi-final duel with Diego Schwartzman. The Argentinian beat Kei Nishikori in two sets in his quarter-finals. For "Delpo", on the other hand, things will only go on at the second Grand Slam tournament of the year in Roland Garros - after the impressive performance in his only seventh match of the season, the 30-year-old can also be trusted in Paris.