ROTTERDAM, Netherlands: Holder Juan Martin del Potro tested his delicate left wrist over nearly one and three-quarter hours as he beat Gael Monfils 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 yesterday at the Rotterdam World Tennis.
The Argentine top seed repeated his win over the flamboyant and crowd-pleasing Frenchman from 2013 when he beat Monfils at the Ahoy stadium in their only other meeting. Monfils came to the first-round start after winning a title at the weekend and has been beaten in 2014 only by Del Potro and Rafael Nadal in a 12-3 season. Del Potro is dealing with recovery on his wrist which gave him pain at the Australian Open and sent him to an American specialist last month for consultations and a recovery programme. “The wrist did well today,” said the winner, who sent last week’s Montpellier champion out on a second match point when he drove a forehand winner down the line. “I’m hoping it continues this way. If I can keep playing like this I will have done good work. I’m very happy to be able to return and defend my title.
“Gael is a good friend of mine and a big fighter. It is always so tough to play him.” After starting off in somewhat poor humour on Kids day in a noisy stadium, Monfils settled in, matching Del Potro in long rallies and occasionally leaping for an overhead or throwing himself at a passing shot and rolling on the hardcourt.
AFP
