Juan Martin Del Potro overcomes Gilles Simon to reach last eight – London Olympics
Former world number four from Argentina, Juan Martin Del Potro, advanced to the quarter-finals, after beating the 12th seed, Gilles Simon of France, in three sets 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, in the third round of London Olympics
on Wednesday. The 2009 US Open champion took an hour and 51 minutes to undo Simon in a close contest.
Del Potro and Simon held their serve in the first two games, taking the score to 1-1. The Argentinean player completely dominated the proceedings afterwards, breaking the Frenchman three times and clinching five in a row to close
it 6-1.
In the second set, there was no break of serve in the opening six games, levelling the score at 3-3. Simon hit a blow to the Argentinean contender in the seventh and won his next serve to attain a 5-3 lead. The Frenchman capitalised
on this advantage and served it out at 5-4.
After losing the second set, Del Potro made an ideal start in the decider, as he claimed first three games to race to a 3-0 advantage. The eighth seed maintained his lead till the end of the set, winning it 6-3.
Del Potro was jubilant after his performance, as he said, "I played really well. Simon also plays a very good game about me. It is amazing to play the Olympics here at Wimbledon."
The Argentinean took part at this year’s Wimbledon Championships but lost to the then world number five, David Ferrer of Spain, in straight sets 3-6, 2-6, 3-6 in the round of 16.
Simon also praised Del Potro by saying, "He was very effective on his serve. It was difficult because he wasn’t missing from the baseline. Every time I was able to play my best tennis, I felt I had a chance to win. But as soon
as I dropped some easy points, he finally broke me and the first break at the beginning of the set was terrible."
Del Potro will lock horns with the 15th seed, Kei Nishikori of Japan in the quarter-finals. Nishikori stunned the fourth seeded Spaniard, Ferrer, in three sets 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 in the third round.
This will be the fourth meeting between Del Potro and Nishikori. The Argentinean participant leads his Japanese rival 3-0 in the head to head series. They met for the last time just four weeks back, when Del Potro thrashed Nishikori
in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-1 in the third round of Wimbledon.
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