I thought I was watching an NBA game today on Court 1, which featured tall players, back-and-forth scoring and only a few minutes of play warranting close attention.
In professional hoops, those minutes come near the end of the fourth quarter. In this tennis match, it was when Ivo Karlovic allowed Juan Martin del Potro a chance to break his near-automatic serve. Del Potro did that just three times—once in each of the sets he won—but got an above-average number of break point opportunities, 16 in all. Karlovic actually served slightly worse than del Potro on his first-serve points, 82 percent to a still-admirable 80. The chasm widened on second-serve points; del Potro won 67 percent of his, compared to Karlovic's conversion rate of 42. When the rallies began, as we expected coming in, they were del Potro's for the taking.
The waning-seconds-of-the-game moment here came in the third set, after the men had split the first two. At 5-all, with Karlovic serving, del Potro pushed the score to 15-40, but both break chances were negated. Two more missed openings followed—one due to a fine Karlovic volley—and you wondered if the Argentine had let the set escape him. But del Potro continued to press and broke serve on his fifth break point of the game. He'd go on to hold at love for the set, and would claim the next set—and the match—with an overhead from behind the baseline. It was an imposing sight, and del Potro was pretty imposing overall throughout his 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win.
Like I said yesterday, we can't glean a lot about del Potro's physical state from this serve-dominated match. But the focus del Potro exhibited was a clear positive and should worry anyone who faces him. We'll get a better idea of where del Potro stands after his second-rounder against Blaz Kavcic, who gave Ernests Gulbis a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 beating. And, should del Potro advance, we'll know for sure after he plays Novak Djokovic, who's sure to be waiting in the third round.
—Ed McGrogan