Juan Martin Del Potro recovered from a set down to stun Stan Wawrinka 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 to reach to a Grand Slam third round for the first time since 2013. Del Potro has scored his first win against a top-five player since he beat Rafael Nadal at the Shanghai Masters 1000 in 2013.
Wawrinka and Del Potro met for the fifth time in their careers. Del Potro led 3-2 in their head-to-head matches. Del Potro lost two very close semifinals at the All-England Club at the London Olympic Games in 2012 against Roger Federer in three sets (6-3 6-7 19-17) and at annual Wimbledon in 2013 against Novak Djokovic in five sets (7-5 4-6 7-6 6-7 6-3).
Former US Open champion Del Potro made his come-back to Wimbledon after a two-year absence, after missing this tournament due to a wrist injury. He is playing in his first Grand Slam tournament since the 2014 Australian Open after having three wrist operations.
Wawrinka got the first break of the match in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead and consolidated it in the next game. The 2015 Roland Garros champion held his next two service games to close out the opening set 6-3. He hit 47 winners to Del Potro’s 23.
Del Potro broke serve in the fourth game of the second set to take a 3-1 lead as Wawrinka made a double fault. At 2-5 Wawrinka rallied from 30-40 to hold his service game at deuce. Del Potro served out for the set to 15 to win the win the second set 6-3.
Both players traded breaks twice in the first four games of the third set. The next games went on serve until the tie-break. Del Potro got the mini-break on the fifth point with his backhand slice and reeled off the next four points to win the third set tie-break.
Wawrinka saved two break points in the sixth game of the fourth set to draw level to 3-3 but Del Potro broke serve to 30 in the eighth game to pull away to 5-3. The player from Tandil served out the win on his first match point after two hours and 50 minutes to get through to the third round.
Del Potro won 75 percent of first serve points through the end of the third set. Wawrinka made 48 unforced errors.
“It feels amazing. I beat one of the guys who is playing great tennis this year and I couldn’t have expected this before today. I enjoyed the crowd. They were incredible. It is like my second or third career after all the injuries. I was sad for the last two years and now I am enjoying playing tennis again. I feel alive. The crowd gave me a lot of support. I am back to the third round in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2013. Everything is positive in this period”, said a very emotional Del Potro.