Juan Martin del Potro met a familiar foe in David Ferrer. This meeting in the 2016 U.S. Open was their tenth encounter and their first since 2013. After two hours and 25 minutes of intense competition, del Potro was able to past his Spanish opponent, 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-3.

Del Potro hangs on to take the opener

It didn’t take long for the match to see its first break point. With Ferrer serving at 30-30, del Potro whipped a crosscourt forehand to get a break point at 30-40; a forehand pulled out wide from the Spaniard gave away the break and the match’s first lead. Consolidating the break would take surviving a deuce, but the Argentine held without facing a break point to lead 2-0.

Ferrer jumped out to a 40-0 lead in his second service game, and it looked like he would hold with ease. That was not the case, however; winning the next three points, del Potro forced a deuce. Nonetheless, the world number 142 couldn’t get a break, as he slapped the next shot into the net and another took a bad bounce off the net and out of play. That would get the Spaniard on the board, down 1-2.

The next game would open the door for Ferrer to break back thanks to a del Potro forehand into the top of the net at 30-30. While the first one didn’t go his way--pulling the trigger too early on a forehand down the line--he was given a second chance after another net shot from the silver medalist. That chance would not be squandered; a third forehand into the net proved to be one too many, and the break put the set back on serve at 2-2. Ferrer held in the following game at 30 to take his first lead of the match, 3-2.

David Ferrer plays a forehand in his third round match against Juan Martin del Potro in the 2016 US Open. Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

After winning three straight games, Ferrer was rolling. He wasted no time getting triple break point on del Potro’s next serve. The Spaniard would end up needing all three of them; the first two were saved on a pair of errors by Ferrer, but the third wouldn’t go del Potro’s way as he carried a forehand long to lose his fourth straight game. A love hold in the following game would give Ferrer a 5-2 lead--one game away from winning the opener.

Finally ending the five-game losing streak, del Potro held at 30 to stay alive in the set. Once again, the pendulum had swung; del Potro became the one with triple break point in his favor. The second break point would be the one for the Argentine as he was gifted a break on a double fault off the top of the net. A love hold from the 27-year-old in the following game evened the score at 5-5. Del Potro seemed to be in prime position to get some break points at 0-30; Ferrer delayed that opportunity for two points, but a backhand out wide would give his Argentine opponent a chance to retake the lead. Del Potro’s fourth break point wouldn’t end in a break and neither would his fifth; refusing to give up, Ferrer escaped another service game to lead 6-5. The set would be sent into a tiebreak after del Potro held easily at fifteen.

Taking a 4-2 lead into the changeover, del Potro had the mini-break needed to win the tiebreak. At 2-5, Ferrer lost his second point on serve--giving his opponent four looks to win the set. The Spaniard would win just one more point in the set before ending it with a backhand error.

Del Potro begins to run away with match

Unlike the preceding set, the second would not open with a break; instead, both players were able to dominate their serves without much resistance. Del Potro won two points as a returner in the first game, and neither player would lose a point on serve thereafter until the fifth game.

Juan Martin del Potro plays a forehand in his third round match against David Ferrer in the 2016 US Open. Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

The fifth game finally saw the server getting challenged. Ferrer pushed del Potro to deuce but didn’t last much longer; the Spaniard was put away quickly on two unreturned serves. With returners gaining some momentum, Ferrer gave away a double fault to give his opponent triple break point. The eleventh seed slapped a forehand into the net at 15-40, and the set had its first break--making the score 4-2 in favor of the 27-year-old. Del Potro--powered by his signature blistering forehands--consolidated the break at 15, and suddenly he was one game away from a two-set lead.

Running away with the set, del Potro found a pair of set points on his opponent’s serve at 15-40. Ferrer--not shying away from the moment--saved one set point on a risky forehand winner. The set would end on a break as the 34-year-old would get the opposite result on a big forehand; benefitting from a shot long, del Potro took a two-set lead via a second set victory, 6-2.

Del Potro finishes routine victory with a single break

Mirroring the second set, the third set got off to a rather ho-hum start. Neither player disrupted the server’s rhythm in the opening couple games, that is, until del Potro started crushing forehands in the fourth game. At 30-30 in Ferrer’s second service game, the Argentine crushed a forehand into the corner to get to the first break point of the set; that point ended with the former U.S. Open champion missing a volley into the net. Hanging on for dear life, Ferrer took the next two points to hold at deuce, thus making the scoreboard read 2-2. The returner won just one point in the next two games, and the match had returned to its anticlimactic state.

Meanwhile, del Potro’s biggest quarrel in the set seemed to be coming against the net cord.

In the eighth game, del Potro unleashed some big forehands and quickly found himself with triple break point. An overhead smash at the net on the second one gave the Argentine the break. With a 5-3 lead, the match was on his racket; he just needed to win four more points against Ferrer’s relentless retrieving.

The conclusion to this match came and went relatively quickly; the world number 13 made his opponent work--moving him all over the court--but fell via love hold.

With a straight set victory, del Potro will advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open. His opponent will be Austrian Dominic Thiem, whom he beat in their lone previous encounter.

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About the author
Jeffrey Waitkevich
I write about basketball and tennis. I am a strong believer in Magic but only in Orlando.