Juan Martin Del Potro prevails over Andreas Seppi in the round of 32 – London Olympics 2012
Seeded eighth in the draw, Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina booked his place for the next stage, after beating Italy’s Andreas Seppi in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(2) in the second round of the London Olympics’ tennis event on Monday.
Seppi was first to move ahead, as he struck in the very first game to take a 1-0 lead but Del Potro hit back immediately, squaring off the proceedings at 1-1. The Argentinean contender grabbed three more back to back later on,
building a 4-1 advantage. Del Potro did not allow the Italian to bounce back, holding all of his serves to win 6-3.
The Argentinean player and his Italian rival got under pressure in their opening serves of the second set but both of them saved break points to level the score at 1-1. None of the two players allowed the other to strike even once,
evening out the proceedings at 6-6 to take it to a tie-breaker. It was a one sided affair afterwards, as Del Potro dropped just two points, winning seven of the nine to capture it 7-6(2).
The world number nine, Del Potro, hit a total of 21 winners in the match. In comparison, Seppi gave an even better performance on his ground strokes, banging in 30 winners. However, the Italian contestant was unable to capitalise
on seven of the eight break opportunities he created on Del Potro’s serve.
Commenting on his form after the match, the Argentinean said, “I didn’t really miss much, but I had a little bit of luck in the important moments. You play your tennis trying to do your best, but you feel something different than
on other courts.”
Del Potro shared that he is enjoying participating in Olympics. He added, “When you play this kind of competition you feel pressure, but also you enjoy [it] a lot. I’m here trying to do my best and see how far I go.”
With this win, the Argentinean player improved to a 42-10 win/loss record in this season. He grabbed titles at the Open 13 and Estoril Open, beating Michael Llodra and Richard Gasquet in the finals respectively. In his latest event,
Del Potro lost to David Ferrer of Spain in the fourth round at the Wimbledon Championships.
The Argentinean will meet the 12th seed, Gilles Simon of France, in the third round. Simon beat Bulgaria’s 53rd ranked player, Grigor Dimitrov, in the round of 32.
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