Pouille Leading del Potro At Wimbledon; Zverev Advances
Pouille Leading del Potro At Wimbledon; Zverev Advances
Zverev set to face Berdych on Sunday
Lucas Pouille is a set away from extending his best Grand Slam run and ending Juan Martin del Potro’s comeback tour at The Championships. Pouille, the No. 32 seed, leads their third-round match 6-7(4), 7-6(8), 7-5 after two hours and 25 minutes on Saturday evening, when play was suspended because of darkness.
Both players held serve prior to del Potro snagging the first-set tie-break. The Argentine went up a break in the second, before Pouille broke back to force another tie-break. The 22 year old then broke del Potro at 5-6 to go up two sets to one.
Pouille’s previous best result at a Grand Slam championship was the second round at Roland Garros (2013, 2016). Their match will resume on Sunday, along with five other men’s singles matches. Play on “Middle Sunday” has taken place only three other times in Wimbledon’s 139-year history: 1991, 1997 and 2004.
The winner of the Pouille vs. del Potro match will face 19th seed Bernard Tomic, who swept Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. The Aussie won 69 per cent of his service points and saved all four break points, while breaking Bautista Agut four times. Tomic looks to match his best showing at Wimbledon, a quarter-finals appearance in 2011.
“I knew my game had to be attack from the start, focus on my serve,” Tomic said. “I think I had to play that way. Otherwise I would have played a long match, and it’s something I didn’t want to do… I think today just showed how good I can actually play on grass.”
German Alexander Zverev, a member of the ATP’s Next Generation, outlasted Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 to match his best showing at a Grand Slam championship. The 19 year old also reached the third round at Roland Garros earlier this season. On Sunday, Zverev, the 24th seed, will face 10th seed Tomas Berdych, who eased past Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Zverev, who’s lost their three prior FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings. “We always have tough matches.”