Del Potro Untouchable On Serve In London

Juan Martin del Potro proved too consistent for Denis Shapovalov on an overcast Wednesday, as the Fever-Tree Championships attempted to play catch-up following Tuesday’s washout.

Watched by a 9,216-strong Centre Court crowd, third seed Del Potro came through a potentially tricky first-round encounter 7-5, 6-4 in 76 minutes at The Queen’s Club.

The popular Argentine will now play 2017 champion Feliciano Lopez, who beat Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4. The 37-year-old Lopez is playing at the ATP 500 grass-court tournament for the 14th straight year, highlighted by victory over Marin Cilic in the 2017 final. The Spaniard also reached the 2014 final (l. to Dimitrov).

One break of serve in each set — at 5-5 in the first and at 2-2 in the second — was enough for Del Potro, who slipped a few of times on the lush grass. The 2013 quarter-finalist, contesting his fifth tournament of the season following a knee injury sustained in October 2018, hit 11 aces in their third FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

Shapovalov, who is currently in third position in the ATP Race To Milan for a spot at the Next Gen ATP Finals in November, got off to a 13-7 start in the first three months of 2019, but the Canadian left-hander is now 2-8 since March.

A full day’s play was washed out on Tuesday for the first time since the opening day of the 2012 championships.