Juan Martin del Potro reflects on win over in-form Reilly Opelka
Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro thinks playing well when needed most was what helped him overcome in-form Reilly Opelka on Thursday.
The world No. 4 beat rising American star Opelka 6-4 6-4 at the Delray Beach Open to set up a quarter-final clash against another American Mackenzie McDonald.
The Argentinian broke last week's New York Open champion Opelka in the third game of the first set and then held on to his serve to claim the opener.
Opelka,v211-centimetres tall player, then kept his serve until the ninth game of the second set, when del Potro converted his first break point of the set to take a 5-4 lead.
The top-seeded Argentinian then routinely served out for the match in the following game.
"First of all, it was a little bit weird to play a guy who is taller than me," del Potro said post-match, per the tournament's website.
"I think he made some mistakes in both sets and I was there trying to break his serve and I did well in important moments of the match."
Del Potro made a successful return from a kneecap fracture this Tuesday when he beat Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round.
The world No. 4 revealed his "knee didn't feel really good" when he woke up the following day after the win over Nishioka.
Del Potro, who has taken a wildcard into next week's Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, also said he might be forced to pull out of his Delray Beach quarter-final clash as he doesn't want to rush or anything with his knee.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2U4EyKX
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