Del Potro gets lost, wins in Roland Garros

Back at the French Open for the first time since 2012, Juan Martin del Potro encountered a bit of trouble navigating the grounds, getting lost a few times as he walked around Roland Garros.

“I never find the place where I have to go,” he joked.

All seemed well once he made it out to Court 6 on Tuesday, though. There was del Potro, pounding those intimidating forehands and big serves and only showing signs of his years of wrist troubles when trying to hit his backhand while advancing to the second round with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victory over qualifier Guido Pella in an all-Argentine matchup.

“He played better than me,” Pella summed it up.

Simple enough explanation for the result.

Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, is seeded 29th at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament he last entered five years ago, when he reached the quarterfinals.

Against Pella, he finished with 13 aces and nearly twice as many total winners, 33-17.

Of note: Only one of those winners for del Potro came off his backhand wing, the side he has more problems with after multiple operations on his left wrist. He is right-handed but uses both hands for his double-fisted backhands, which often are reduced to slices.

2.5 The number of years worth of major tournaments Del Potro missed because of three operations on his left wrist. He returned to the Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2017