Juan Martin Del Potro wipes off Florian Mayer in the first round – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Juan Martin Del Potro, seeded 10th at the event, made short world of Germany’s Florian Mayer, beating the world number 24 in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the first round at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain on Tuesday. The
Argentinean required just an hour and 16 minutes to down Mayer in a one sided contest.
The first set saw a steady beginning from both players, as they held their serves in the first nine games to take the score to 5-4 in Del Potro’s favour. The Argentinean succeeded in earning a breakthrough in the 10th
and ended it 6-4.
The Tandil, Argentina resident relied on his big serves to win most of the points in the first set, bombarding five aces and 81 percent of the first deliveries. On the other hand, Mayer hit just two aces and had a horrible first
serve percentage of 44. The German could not save the only break point he faced and was unable to create any opportunity of his own.
After winning a relatively close first set, Del Potro made a flying start in the second, grabbing opening four games to build a 4-0 lead. Mayer broke the Argentinean in the fifth and won his following serve to shorten the trail
to 2-4 but he could not carry on with the momentum, dropping next two games to lose 2-6.
Del Potro pounded three aces and 62 percent of the first deliveries, converting 11 of the 16 of them into points. The right-hander gave his best performance on the replies to Mayer’s second serves, securing six of the eight points
on them. The 6ft 6in tall evaded one of the two break threats he came across and converted three of the six of his opportunities in the second set.
The Argentinean has some into this event after winning the Estoril Open title on Sunday. He said, "I played really well. It was tough to have to play the day after the final in Estoril but I played well. It's tough to change surface
with the level I have at this moment, but I am ready to play and I am enjoying this tournament. As I progressed I felt better, I was feeling better and I left the match with a really good feeling, much better than at the beginning of the match."
Del Potro is pitted against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in the round of 32.
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