French Open Day 5: Del Potro through to third round as emotional Almagro retires

Juan Martin Del Potro, right, consoles Nicolas Almagro after the Spaniard was forced to retire from their French Open second round match due to injury. Thomas Samson / AFP

A round-up of the men’s and women’s singles action on Day 5 at the French Open.

MEN’S

Del Potro through as Almagro breaks down

Juan Martin del Potro reached the third round after Spanish opponent Nicolas Almagro quit in tears during the third set with a left knee injury.

In a moving conclusion to the match, Del Potro sat next to the stricken, sobbing Almagro on Court 2, offering him water while patting his head.

The Argentine had also gone to the Spaniard’s aid when he had collapsed at the back of the court, weeping, just moments earlier.

Del Potro had taken the first set of the second round clash 6-3 before Almagro claimed the next by the same score. They were locked at 1-1 in the third when Almagro quit.

Del Potro, playing in Paris for the first time in five years after battling a series of wrist injuries, also suffered an injury scare himself when he pulled up, holding his left leg in the second set.

The former US Open champion goes on to face either world No 1 Andy Murray or Martin Klizan for a place in the last 16.

Huge amount of heart from @DelPotroJuan at @RolandGarros.❤️
 Nicolas Almagro (knee) forced to retire v.  JM Del Potro.#RolandGarros2017 pic.twitter.com/DvzjYaatft

Nishikori shrugs off injury scare and Chardy

Kei Nishikori survived an injury scare and Jeremy Chardy’s late revival to advance to the third round with a 6-3 6-0 7-6(5) victory.

The Japanese eighth seed had to call on the trainer to have his chest massaged early in the third set. Despite that setback, he dug in to ensure he did not have to stay on court longer than necessary, wrapping up the win with a backhand winner. He will next take on South Korea’s Chung Hyeon.

Chardy won the first game on Nishikori’s serve but Nishikori immediately broke back and quickly found his stride.

The Japanese, who reached the Roland Garros quarter-finals in 2015, bagged 12 consecutive games as he went from 3-3 in the first set to 3-0 in the third, when he had to take the injury time out.

He lost momentum upon resumption as Chardy broke twice to force a tiebreak. However, once in the tiebreak Nishikori kept his wits and converted his first match point.

WOMEN’S

Radwanska digs deep

Agnieszka Radwanska was forced dig deep to repel tenacious qualifier Alison Van Uytvanck 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3 in their second round clash.

The world No 10 was taken by surprise in the first set when the aggressive Belgian, ranked 103 spots below her, went 3-1 up and squandered four break points to go 4-1 up. Despite fighting back, Radwanska could not handle her opponent’s big kicking serve and stream of dropshots and Van Uytvanck bagged the tiebreak with a smash. Radwanska changed tactics and decided to mix it up as well, rushing to the net more often and attacking the Belgian’s high-bouncing serve early to race through the second set 6-2.

Van Uytvanck, who underwent wrist surgery in December and has made only one WTA main draw appearance this year prior to Roland Garros, was broken in the third game and the Pole never looked back, winning the match when her opponent dumped a backhand into the net after two hours and 23 minutes.

Svitolina survives scare

Elina Svitolina survived a second-round scare at Roland Garros, losing her way in the first set against Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova before serving up a rollercoaster 3-6 6-3 6-2 win.

The Ukrainian, No 6 in the world and leading the race rankings of results accumulated during 2017, struggled early on as her heavy groundstrokes fell short or wide. Pironkova took advantage, reeling off four games in a row to take the first set. In a match littered with 54 unforced errors that the players shared almost equally, fifth seed Svitolina then started to find her range and struck back. She took the second set when her 77th-ranked opponent drove a halfcourt backhand into the net, and did enough to stay on top in the third.

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

Men’s second round

Juan Martín Del Potro (ARG x29) bt Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 6-3, 3-6, 1-1 - retired

John Isner (USA x21) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2)

Karen Khachanov (RUS) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE x13) 7-5, 6-4, 6-4

Kei Nishikori (JPN x8) bt Jérémy Chardy (FRA) 6-3, 6-0, 7-6 (7/5)

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) bt David Ferrer (ESP x30) 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4

Marin Cilic (CRO x7) bt Konstantin Kravchuk (RUS) 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

Women’s second round

Elina Svitolina (UKR x5) bt Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Magda Linette (POL) bt Ana Konjuh (CRO x29) 6-0, 7-5

Darya Kasatkina (RUS x26) bt Markéta Vondrousová (CZE) 7-6 (7/1), 6-4

Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) bt Taylor Townsend (USA) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3

Alize Cornet (FRA) bt Barbora Strycova (CZE x20) 6-4, 6-1

Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x9) bt Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-3

* Agencies

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