“It was a wonderful evening from the beginning”, said Del Potro.
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Del Potro’s Sunday did not start off so auspiciously – he was stuck in an elevator at the Olympic Village for 40 minutes before Argentine handball players freed him. It’s not easy to handle but you have to deal with it.
“My forehand was great and I hit it as hard as I could”.
This comes a little more than a month after a third-round loss at Wimbledon against Sam Querrey of the United States, and could add to the sense that Djokovic is not as unbeatable as everyone was beginning to think he was when he won the French Open in June to become the first man in almost a half-century to win four consecutive major trophies.
Del Potro sends Djokovic off in tears was posted in Sports of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on August 08, 2016 and was last updated on August 08, 2016.
Djokovic’s compatriot Viktor Troicki lost in straight sets to Murray, who won 6-3, 6-2, while Nadal took his own straight sets win over Del Potro’s compatriot Federico Delbonis. He also beat Djokovic for a bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Games in London.
Djokovic, still left seeking his first Olympic gold medal, was upset in the third round at Wimbledon by 41st-ranked Sam Querrey after winning the Australian Open and French Open.
“Tonight I played one of the best matches of my career”.
Del Potro, now ranked at 145 in the world after being number four in 2010, said Sunday’s win was more special than his victory at the 2012 Games.
“You don’t get this opportunity very often because the Olympic Games only come around once every four years”, said Andy.
As a result of his injuries and time away from the court, del Potro certainly wasn’t expected to top Djokovic. Fifth-seeded Venus also lost her first round singles match, hampered by a virus.
A gracious Djokovic said: “In decisive moments, he just came up with some extraordinary tennis”.
Matching each other point-for-point in the first set, the players entered a tiebreak at the one hour-mark.
And Del Potro certainly delivered as he claimed only his fourth win in 15 meetings against his illustrious opponent – although even he thought victory would be beyond him. He made only 24 unenforced errors, including just nine in the second set, as he pulled off one of the most significant wins of his career.
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Seperately, the Williams sisters crashed out to the Czech Fed Cup winners Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova, losing 6-3, 6-4 in what Serena called a bad performance.
