Juan Martin Del Potro defeats Alejandro Falla; cruises into quarters of the Estoril Open
Former top five, Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro slew Colombian Alejandro Falla with a breadstick on Wednesday. He registered a 6-2, 6-1 victory over the 27-year-old to advance into the quarter-finals of the 2011 Estoril Open
in Oeiras, Portugal.
Eighth seed Del Potro is in top form this season so far as he won the title at Delray Beach in February. He also made a semi-final berth at Memphis and Indian Wells and reached the fourth round at the Miami ATP Masters 1000 event.
He entered confidently in this tournament and rallied past Portuguese qualifier Pedro Sousa in a three set thriller in the first round.
46th ranked Argentinean then downed Falla, ranked 89 places below him, in seventy minutes at the Estadio Nacionale. Del Potro dumped the Colombian here in straight sets four years ago as well and by earning this victory,
he took a lead in their head-to-head series by 2-1.
22-year-old portrayed magnificent skills as he earned a breadstick to book a quarter-final spot. He made a solid start to the match and conceded just one point to hold his serve in the first game of the opening set. The Argentinean
then found the coveted break in the second game after several deuces. He kept his spark and extended the lead to 3-0 after holding his serve with an ace in the proceeding game. Later Del Potro kept his entire serves plausibly and broke the Colombian’s serve
in the last game to seal the set with an assuring 6-2 score line.
He took 43 minutes to get the first set victory. Del Potro had a much lower first serve share of 55 percent as compared to Falla’s 71 percent but he earned an impressive 75 percent win on it. He also faced zero breakpoint and clobbered
zero double faults.
The Argentinean went on savage mode in the final set and reeled off first three games in a row. He lost the fourth game but charged up again as he won the next three games to clinch a breadstick victory.
Del Potro raised his level of game and produced a higher first serve share this time. He also earned a perfect win on it and faced zero breakpoints.
The youngster will next face top seeded Swede Robin Soderling who fought for his life in the second set but earned a double breadstick against French Jeremy Chardy. The Swede registered a 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-1 win over the Frenchman
in almost two hours to reach this spot.
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