ATP Delray Beach: Juan Martin del Potro tops Opelka but is his knee o.k?
Following his first-round win against Yoshihito Nishioka, the world no. 4 Juan Martin del Potro is through to the quarter-final in Delray Beach after a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over New York champion Reilly Opelka in an hour and 13 minutes. A former champion ousted the youngster after landing 78% of the first serve in, playing well on both the first and second serve and keeping the pressure on the youngster who struggled on his second serve to lose the first match after six wins. Reilly blasted 18 aces but unlike in New York, his second serve let him down (five from 17), facing two break points and getting broken on both to find himself on the losing side.
Del Potro grabbed a break already in the third game when Reilly sent a forehand long, serving well in the rest of the set and bringing it home with a service winner at 5-4. Nothing separated the rivals in the first eight games of the second set before Opelka played a loose service game, squandering game points and allowing Juan Martin to break him when his backhand landed in the net. The Argentinian sealed the deal with three service winners in game ten, scoring his second win after a long break due to a knee injury.
The problem is, Delpo still feels the pain and he will make a decision about playing against Mackenzie McDonald on Friday night or not, having to be smart with the schedule as he has to defend 1500 points in Acapulco and Indian Wells. Mackenzie McDonald is through to his second ATP quarter-final, defeating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 6-4 in an hour and 29 minutes after a great performance on both serve and return. The American fended off both break points he faced, including a set point at 4-5 in the opener, breaking the Spaniard once in each set to ensure the win and enter the last eight.
From 40-0 up in game two, Mackenzie had to save a break point, firing an ace to avoid an early setback, creating two break points in the following game that Guillermo saved and stayed in touch, earning that set point in the tenth game after a beautiful backhand crosscourt winner. McDonald erased it with a powerful forehand and he forced another error from the veteran in the next game to move 6-5 up, sealing the opener with three winners in game 12 for a 7-5. After six good holds in set number two, Mackenzie painted another forehand winner to score the crucial break and move 4-3 up, missing a match point on the return in game nine before jumping over the top with three winners in the next game to book the quarter-final spot.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2BP1UNJ
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