It was a straightforward match for Juan Martin del Potro on Philippe Chatrier, opposed to Frenchmen Julien Bennetteau, 36 years old, at his last season on tour. The Argentinian was too powerful for his opponent, who did not have any weapon to oppose the solid serves and blistering groundstrokes coming his way. Del Potro has always been in control of the score, taking an early break in the first set for a 4-1 lead and breaking to win the set on 5-4 after Bennetteau had bridged the gap to equalize at 4-4.
A five-game streak gave Del Potro a commanding 3-0 lead, providing him a comfortable cushion that was maintained until the end of the second set and into the third, which ended 6-2 with two breaks in a row. The most emotional part of the afternoon came at the end of the match, as Bennetteau bid farewell to the Parisian crowd on his 16th and final Roland Garros run. Del Potro, ever a gentleman, shortened his Q&A with M.C. Marion Bartoli to leave the stage to his opponent: “It’s Julien’s day” he said just after ending the last Roland Garros of another French player, having already closed Nicolas Mahut’s career in his home Slam in his first-round match.
“I want to thank you all for the dream that I have lived, for making it possible” he said to the standing crowd, as eyes were starting to wet in the player’s corner. “I want to thank my family, my team, my best friends. There are a number of my previous coaches here today, as well as the people from the French Federation who have been supporting me since I was 12”. He congratulated Juan Martin for being a true champion and a gentleman, and for what he has been able to achieve after all his wrist problems, and finally he remembered the dream he had as a child: “ I remember when I came here for the first time, I was 10 years old, I sat down on Philippe Chatrier, it was November, therefore it was empty, and I was dreaming of playing here. I have been able to play here for all these years and this is something I will never forget”.
On the newest court of the venue, Court 18, n.9 seed John Isner had to fight from one set down with Argentinian Horacio Zeballos in a match that saw the first break only at the beginning of the fourth set. After dropping the first set by 9 point to 7 in the tie-break despite five set-point squandered in the tenth game, the Miami Open champion held of his opponent in the second and third set to run away with a decisive 4-0 lead at the beginning of the fourth to end the match after 2 hours, 53 minutes.
The last match played on Court n.1 saw Pierre-Hugues Herbert fight out the resistance of his fellow-compatriot Jeremy Chardy with a 9-7 win in the fifth set that ended past 8.10pm local time This win launches the once-double specialist into his first third round at his home Grand Slam tournament, after reaching the same round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2016.
