BACK WITH A BANG
cincinnati — Juan Martin del Potro made a winning return to the Cincinnati Open on Tuesday when the Argentine grounded out a 3-6 7-6(1) 6-0 victory over 10th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych to reach the second round on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old, back in Cincinnati after a four-year absence fromthe US Open warmup event, powered down 17 aces to rally past Berdych after he surrendered the opening set following a listless start. Berdych found his rhythm early in the match and broke Del Potro for a 3-1 lead and didnot lose a point on his powerful serve until the 10th game.
But as Del Potro, a semifinalist at the tournament in 2012 and 2013, worked his way back into the match, Berdych slowly began to lose confidence and failed to win a single game in the deciding set.
“During the second set, in the end, I played my best tennis,” 2009 US Open champion Del Potro told reporters. “I hit so sure with my forehand. I made good serves and I took all my chances to win.
“Mentally, I was strong enough to keep fighting and I think he got down after losing that second set. Then, when I broke his serve early in the third (set), my game started improving and I played much better than him.”
Del Potro advances to meet American qualifier Mitchell Krueger in the second round.
Australian Nick Kyrgios also opened his campaign witha welcome victory as the world number 23 beat Belgian ninth seed David Goffin 6-2 6-3 in the afternoon heat to reach the second round.
Other than in the firstgame when he had to climb out of a 0-40hole, Kyrgios experienced few problems on serve and even secured three breaks against Goffin, who had to take a medical time out for a knee injury during the match.
“He obviously wasn’t at 100 percent today but youknow I’mnot at 100 percent either, so it was a bit of a battle,” said Kyrgios, who has struggled with an array of injuries throughout the season. — Agencies