Del Potro makes winning start at Wimbledon

Juan Martin del Potro has seen off Thanasi Kokkinakis in an entertaining four-set match to take his place in the second round at Wimbledon.

The Argentine, seeded 29th, saw off the 21-year-old Aussie 6-3 3-6 7-6(2) 6-4 to set up a meeting with Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis.

Del Potro did not play a grasscourt match leading into The Championships due to a groin injury; his last competitive outing was a third-round loss to Andy Murray at Roland Garros.

But having spent so much of the last four years dealing with chronic injuries – most notably his troublesome wrists – it must have been a relief to his many fans when he declared himself healthy, despite some slips on the grass.

“I feel good. Is normally (slippery) on this surface. But it was nothing dangerous. To be in my first match on grass after long time, I think I moved well,” he said.

“I think everything is fine. Nothing worst, which means something good to me. Is a good signal for prepare my next round. I will see how is my practice tomorrow. But I think my body is in good shape at the moment.”

Del Potro, a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 2013, is perhaps a more natural grasscourter than Kokkinakis, with his powerful serves and flat drives perfectly suited to the lawns.

And it showed in the first set, with del Potro holding points for a 4-0 lead as the Aussie struggled to control his loopier, heavier forehand.

"I've missed that many forehands!" Kokkinakis mouths as he sends another into the tape when there was an opening past Delpo at net.

— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) July 4, 2017

The Argentine dominated the first set but Kokkinakis settled in the second, getting the tall Argentine on the run and drawing some errors to break in the eighth game. When he served out the second set, fans on No.2 court had a match on their hands.

“I’d say clay and hard are probably my preferred (surfaces), but I wasn’t going into this grass court season thinking I’m like a liability on grass like I was in a couple years past,” Kokkinakis reflected.

“That’s a good thing for me going forward. I feel better and more comfortable on a grass court now.”

SMASHTALK: Is del Potro in danger?

It certainly seemed that way when the former world No.69 – now ranked 486th after 18 months of shoulder problems – broke early in the third set.

Yet del Potro got the break back in the sixth game and dominated the ensuing tiebreak, which Kokkinakis described as “horrendous” after he coughed up two double faults.

The fourth was tight, with Kokkinakis surviving three break points in the seventh game – saving one with a forehand swinging volley winner – to push ahead 4-3.

Yet he couldn’t deny del Potro, who converted a break point opportunity two games later.

Serving for the match, del Potro saw six match points come and go before finally converting his seventh with a trademark forehand winner to end the three-hour battle.

“It was really tough match. That’s what I expected before the match. He has a good game to play on grass, and he serves really, really fast. He moves well from the baseline,” del Potro observed.

“But I think he made an easy mistakes in important moments of the match. I took all the chances to survive. I started to play better. I feel confidence with the results in the end of the match.”