Del Potro, a bronze medal victor at the 2012 games in London, finds himself in a surprisingly good spot in the men’s draw now. He has fallen to 141st in the world because he had to deal injury problems for two years.
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Dressed in sky blue football shirts, they draped national flags and banners over the barriers and responded defiantly when locals booed the mention of del Potro’s name.
Earlier today, he was stuck in an elevator for 40 minutes before being rescued by his country’s handball team. Daniel has yet to drop a set this tournament and did take out a seeded player in the first round in Jack Sock.
Del Potro and partner Maximo Gonzalez lost out to Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez in their second-round clash, but the Argentinian followed up his singles win over Djokovic with a 6-3 1-6 6-3 second-round victory over Joao Sousa.
Del Potro kept his nerve, however, and carved out a key break in the sixth game of the decider before clinching a place in the last-16 on his third match point.
From that point on, Williams didn’t drop a set the rest of the way at the All England Club, taking 12 in a row to earn her record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title.
After winning a second set tiebreak 7 (7)-6 (4), the Keys-Mladenovic match is going to a third set.
Del Potro hit 41 winners Sunday, 29 on his forehand.
Juan Martin del Potro sobbed into Novak Djokovic’s shoulder, the two opponents locked in a long embrace at the net. But in the context of his story, it’s important to remember that del Potro previously ranked as high as World No. 4 back in 2010.
Unfortunately, the 27-year-old del Potro has spent years recovering from multiple surgeries.
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Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion stalked by injuries ever since, won 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) in the first round Sunday at the Rio de Janeiro Games.
