Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro defeats Lithuanian Richard Berankis at Delray Beach Championships
Wildcard Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro got off to a strong start on his debut run at the Delray Beach International Championships on Tuesday night, as he defeated Richard Berankis of Lithuania in their first round match. Del Potro now has to go through
the Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The debutant ousted his opponent in straight sets at 6-4, 6-1 to qualify for the second round. Del Potro hardly faced any serious challenge from his opponent and cruised through the match with ease.
In a fairly one-sided contest, Del Potro gave no opportunities to his rival to take the better of him. It was a low serve competition as both men had their first serve around 50 per cent. Only three aces were seen in the whole match, two of them coming from
Del Potro.
Del Potro got in to an early lead of 3-1 in the opener, but a double fault on his part allowed his opponent to bounce back. The 22-year-old took hold of the first set by nabbing a break point in the tenth game to clinch the opener at 6-4.
Del Potro came out firing in the next set and blasted Berankis away, as he kept winning his serve games without dropping once. He managed to craft five break opportunities in the second set and availed all of them.
Despite a first serve percentage of 57 in the second set, Del Potro won 81 per cent of his serve points with his elegant cross-court strokes. The player displayed brilliant power hitting to build a double-break in the set, taking an impassable lead of 5-1.
He served out of the match comprehensively to make a spot in the second round.
Del Potro has to go through Teymuraz Gabashvili to qualify for the quarter-finals. The Russian beat John Isner in the first round, 6-4, 5-7 and 7-6.
In the last match of the evening, second seed American Mardy Fish won his match against German, Bjorn Phau to join Del Potro in the next round. The contest was not completed, as Phau retired from the match in the very first set. He later reported that he
was suffering from cold and flu symptoms.
The American had an excellent start to the contest and clinched a double-break early to dictate the match. He never faced a break point in the five games played and had a phenomenal first serve percentage of 71. Fish won 80 per cent of his serve points while
the German followed him with merely 25 per cent.
Second seed Fish had no real trouble in the curtailed match, as he was leading the set with five games to nil when the German forfeited.
Fish will be squaring off against Brazilian Ricardo Mello in the second round. Mello overcame Rainer Schuettler in the opening round by 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 to advance in the tournament.
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