The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Del Potro comforts distraught Almagro
Juan Martin Del Potro showed himself to be one of tennis’s great sportsmen when he comforted distraught second-round opponent Nicolas Almagro at the French Open.
The pair were tied at one set all and 1-1 in the third when Almagro stopped playing, standing with his hands on his knees and head bowed before collapsing to the clay and sobbing uncontrollably. A knee problem suffered in Rome earlier this month left him with no option but to retire.
Del Potro squatted down next to Almagro and put a consoling hand on the Spaniard’s chest while he was attended to by doctor and physio.
When Almagro picked himself up off the clay and walked slowly back to his chair, Del Potro went with him, sitting down next to his opponent and putting an arm around his shoulder.
Having lost virtually three years of his career to wrist problems, Del Pot ro took little pleasure in advancing to a clash with Andy Murray.
Third seed Stan Wawrinka was tested by Alexandr Dolgopolov but came through 6-4 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 to set up a battle against Fabio Fognini.
Nick Kyrgios failed to make it past the second round, the Australian picking up a point penalty for twice smashing his racket at the end of the second set against Kevin Anderson before going down 5-7 6-4 6-1 6-2.
All eyes for the home nation tomorrow will be on a clash between Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet, while Karen Khachanov and Chung Hyeon, both 21, reached the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time.
Korean Chung next faces eighth seed Kei Nishikori.
Russian Khachanov upset Tomas Berdych 7-5 6-4 6-4 and will play 21st seed John Isner.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal play their third-round matches today, with Djokovic taking on Diego Schwartzman and Nadal meeting Nikoloz Basilashvili.