2011 Medibank International: Juan Martin Del Potro successfully kicks off 2011
Playing at only his third event in 11 months, former world number 4 Juan Martin Del Potro returned to the ATP Tour after being sidelined by a wrist injury last year. Del Potro is currently playing at the 2011 Medibank International
this week along with 28 other tennis players.
Having lost his ranking on account of no play in 2010, Del Potro had requested a wildcard for entry into the event. Del Potro kicked off 2011 playing sixth seed Feliciano Lopez.
This was the pair’s sixth meeting on the courts with the head-to-head score standing at 3-2 in the Spaniard’s favour. Lopez also enjoyed a 3-match winning streak over the Argentinean. Their last meeting on the courts had come in
2010 where they met at the Tokyo event. However, then Del Potro had been compromised due to his injury. Having fully recovered, Del Potro broke Lopez’s winning streak over him to level their head-to-head score.
Lopez had started 2011 playing at the Brisbane International last week as the sixth seed. Pitted against Philipp Petzschner in the opening round, it was only after much effort that Lopez was able to move ahead in the event. Winning
the first set 6-4, Lopez had taken the second set into a tiebreaker where both players went neck-to-neck until 22 points. However, only at the 23rd did Lopez catch a break, thereby defeating Petzschner 13-11. Unfortunately, his luck did not follow
him into the second round, as Lopez was ousted by eventual semi-finalist Kevin Anderson in the second round.
Playing Del Potro for their opening round match at the Sydney event, Lopez put up much fight before finally succumbing to defeat in three sets. Going head-to-head in the opener, the match saw its first tiebreaker. Although he tried
to put up a fight for the first ten points, Del Potro could not maintain his form and lost the first tiebreaker 7-5. Bouncing back in the second set, Del Potro took it to another tiebreaker. In another tooth and nail battle, the score was tied for 18 points.
Winning the next two successive points, Del Potro was able to secure a 11-9 win and keep alive his chances of staying in the game. Entering the decider, the match saw its third tiebreaker. It seemed that Del Potro had tired out Lopez, since the former was
able to rush into a lead and clinch a 7-3 victory.
Delighted over a successful return match, Del Potro said, "I worked very hard for two months in Argentina. My coaches trust in my conditions and I trust in myself, so I'm ready again to play long matches. I am still lower with
my level. I need time. I need work to keep going on this road. It's a long road to be in the top 10 again, but I'm ready to try. I need matches and matches, practice and work. Maybe in four or six months I'll be ready to play good tennis again."
Del Potro bagged a victory for himself in three hours serving 21 aces and losing only 47 of 146 points on service. He now moves ahead to play German Florian Mayer.
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