Del Potro knocks out Wawrinka
Print Edition
JUAN Martin del Potro proved that multiple wrist surgeries had not robbed him off his flowing racket skills as he knocked out fourth seed Stan Wawrinka with a 3-6 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 in the second round yesterday.
The Argentine, making his first appearance at Wimbledon since reaching the semifinals in 2013, held aloft his arms in triumph after condemning twice grand slam champion Wawrinka to his earliest defeat at the All England Club for three years.
Wawrinka broke once to take the first set but by the time the players swapped serves for four successive games at the start of the third set, the Swiss knew he was in for a torrid afternoon against the 2009 US Open champion.
Playing under a closed Centre Court roof, Wawrinka whipped a backhand wide on match point to complete another miserable outing at the only major in which he has yet to reach at least a semifinal.
Off the court, Wimbledon organizers admitted they were considering playing on Sunday for the first time in 12 years in an attempt to get the rain-ravaged tournament back on track.
The middle Sunday is traditionally a rest day at the grand slam event, mainly to allow the grass-courts to recover, and the last time matches were held on that day was in 2004.
“We are considering it. A decision will be taken on Saturday,” a spokesman said.
With the weather having disrupted play on three days, the fixture backlog is such that 16 second-round singles matches had to be completed by yesterday afternoon.
In rain-free years, Friday would mark the first day of third-round matches in both the men’s and women’s events.
This year is also the 25th anniversary of “People’s Sunday,” the first Middle Sunday program the tournament ever scheduled. All England Club Chief Executive Richard Lewis said just 52 of 240 scheduled matches had been completed by Thursday evening that year.
Middle Sunday play is “not a scenario we are wishing to repeat in 2016,” Lewis said in statement before the start of this year’s championship.
“The courts benefit hugely from a rest day... It is the one opportunity we have to water the courts thoroughly, an important step in helping to ensure they start the second week in the best possible condition.”
The last time the men’s final was completed on the Monday after the tournament’s scheduled close was in 2001, when Goran Ivanisevic became the first and only wildcard to win the event. The retractable roof since fitted over Centre Court virtually rules out a similar rescheduling being necessary in the future.
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