Juan Martin Del Potro started slow but recovered to score one the of the biggest victories of his season at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Thursday. Del Potro beat world No. 4 Alexander Zverev 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to book a quarterfinal spot after one hour and 56 minutes.
The 29-year-old Argentine lost the first three games of the match and Zverev was able to take the opening set with a single break. Del Potro recovered to take the second set in a tiebreaker before using his only break of the afternoon to win the third. The 2009 U.S. Open champion finished with 22 aces.
Although Del Potro still has work to do both in Shanghai and for the rest of 2017, he also has an eye on next year.
“One of my goals for the next year is just to play a whole year–around 20, 22 tournaments would be great for me,” Del Potro commented. “If my level continues improving, I will get closer to the top guys. But it’s not easy. I have made a big effort after all my injuries to play tennis, but I think I’m doing well.”
“I think he played a great match; maybe one of the best of the season,” Zverev praised. “I think we both played pretty well from the baseline. I don’t know what I could have done better…. In my eyes I did a horrible job maybe returning or getting the points going on his serve.”
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