Juan Martin Del Potro prevails over Albert Montanes in the first round – French Open 2012
Argentina’s number one player, Juan Martin Del Potro, survived the second set scare to rally past the world number 65, Albert Montanes of Spain, 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-1 in the first round at the French Open in Paris on Sunday.
Del Potro made a solid start, as he snatched a break in the third game of the opening set and won his subsequent serve to go up 3-1. The Argentinean struck again in the seventh and served it out at 5-2.
The 6ft 6in tall was the first to take lead in the second set, as he hit a blow to Montanes again in the third game and consolidated on it to attain a 3-1 advantage. However, Del Potro failed to sustain it until the end this time,
losing his serve in the eighth to even out the score at 4-4. Both players held theirs serves in the following four games to take the score to 6-6, forcing a tie-breaker. The Spaniard took a 5-2 lead at capitalised on it to win 7-6(5).
The third set saw a stable start, as Del Potro and Montanes held their serve in the first five games to take the score to 3-2 in the former’s favour. The Argentinean broke Montanes in the sixth and eighth to capture it 6-2.
Carrying the winning momentum in the fourth set, Del Potro made the best possible start, as he reeled off the opening five games to move ahead 5-0. Montanes opened his account at that moment and reduced the trail to 1-5 but the
Argentinean did not allow him to do anything more, closing it 6-1.
Del Potro banged in a total of four aces but also committed six double faults in the match. On the other hand, the Spaniard hit three aces and made the same number of double faults. Del Potro’s first serve percentage was just 59
compared to 62 by Montanes but the Argentinean’s conversion rate was impressive, as he bagged 60 of the 81 points on them.
Del Potro accepted that he was not feeling much comfortable during the match. He said, "I was struggling a little. Roland Garros is a physically-demanding tournament. I have to keep that in mind as I am playing well at the moment."
The Argentinean is drawn to meet the local player, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, in the second round. The Frenchman beat Vasek Pospisil in four sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the opening match.
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