2011 French Open: Juan Martin Del Potro rallies past Ivo Karlovic into the second round
25th seed Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina came back after losing the first set to overpower world number 148, Croatian Ivo Karlovic in four sets 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the round of 128 of French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Monday. It took the Argentinean three hours and thirteen minutes to oust his opponent in a marathon contest.
In the first set, none of the two players was able to break other’s serve in the first twelve games, equalizing the score at 6-6 and forcing a tie-break. Karlovic managed to claim a late mini-break in the tie-break, finally sealing it 9-7. The Croatian served to his reputation, firing nine aces and 74 percent of the first serves, converting 81 percent of them into points in the opening set.
Del Potro came back roaring in the second set as he broke Karlovic in the second game and held his serve in the next game, racing to a 3-0 lead. The Argentinean capitalised on the single break of serve and served out the set at 5-3. The 22-year-old bulldozed Karlovic with his aggressive shots, hitting 17 winners in the second set.
Both big serving players served tremendously well and convincingly held their serve in the first ten games of the third set to tie the score at 5-5. However, Del Potro got the break through as he did not allow the Croatian to hold serve in the eleventh game and served out the set in the next game, winning it 7-5. The Argentinean delivered five aces and 64 percent of the first serves in the third set, sealing 83 percent of the points on them.
After getting two sets to one lead, Del Potro broke Karlovic in the third game of the fourth set and held his next service game to go ahead 3-1. The right-handed did not give his opponent any chance to break back and served out the set at 5-4. The six feet and six inches tall committed six unforced errors and hit four winners, winning a total of 34 points in the fourth set.
Del Potro is drawn to take on world number 82 Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia in the round of 64.
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