Juan Martin Del Potro prevails over Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the second round – French Open 2012
Ninth seed, Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, bounced back after getting stunned in the opening set to outlast France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin, ranked 82nd in the world, 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4 in the second round
at the French Open in Paris on Wednesday.
Del Potro grabbed lead from the start of the match, snatching a break in the first game and winning his subsequent serve to attain a 2-0 advantage. However, the French player made a good comeback, winning four in a row to take
a 4-2 lead. It was the Argentinean’s turn to bounce back this time, as he captured two consecutive games and evened out the score at 4-4. The back and forth trend finally ended, as both players held their serve in the following four to take the score to 6-6
and force a tie-breaker. Roger-Vasselin claimed an early advantage and capitalised on it to triumph 7-6(5).
The second set saw a steady start from both players, as they did not lose their serve in the opening six games and equalised the score at 3-3. Del Potro and Roger-Vasselin swapped a break in the next two, taking it to 4-4. It was
again taken to a tie-breaker, where the Argentinean raced to a 3-0 lead and made the most of it, sealing the set 7-6(3).
Del Potro hit a blow to the Frenchman in the very first game of the third set and consolidated on it to go up 2-0. The Argentinean did not lose his serve till the end and closed it 6-4.
Carrying the winning momentum in the fourth set, the former world number four, Del Potro, needed only a single break to win 6-4.
Talking to the reporters, the Argentinean accepted, "I knew from the outset that I could win this match, I could break him. I knew that I could change the situation at any moment."
On the other hand, Roger-Vasselin said, "It was a very tight match. Del Potro was slightly stronger than I was today. I was within inches of a big achievement.
The Argentinean will play 21st seed, Marin Cilic of Croatia in the round of 32.
Del Potro said, commenting on his next opponent, "We know one another well, very well. The matches we play are always very difficult matches. The way he plays tennis is similar to my way of playing tennis. He's really an attacker.
He's really someone who serves well. He's dangerous. It's going to be tough."
The Argentinean leads 6-2 against the Croatian in the head to head record.
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