Juan Martin del Potro/AP photo Kirsty Wigglesworth
Juam Martin del Potro has struggled since winning the U.S. Open, and it appeared he might let another opportunity get away in his second match in the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London on Tuesday.
But the tall Argentine gathered himself in the third-set tiebreaker and beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(1) to even his record at 1-1 in the round-robin portion of the year-end event.
It was only del Potro's third win in seven matches since beating Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in consecutive matches to win the U.S. Open. It was also he first win over a top-10 player since then.
Del Potro, currently ranked No. 5, almost let this one slip away too. He held match points when the No. 8-ranked Verdasco was serving at 5-2 in the third set and again at 5-4.
Verdasco fought off both those match points against him, but del Potro dominated the tie-breaker, winning it 7-1.
Federer and Andy Murray were scheduled to play later Tuesday.
See also:
NADAL'S CHANCE OF FINISHING NO. 1 SLIPPING AWAY
FEDERER, NADAL PLAY FOR NO. 1 IN LONDON
DJOKOVIC WINS SECOND STRAIGHT TOURNAMENT
NADAL, DJOKOVIC MEET IN SEMIFINALS
SAN FRANCISCO PLAYER A FINALIST IN NATIONAL SENIORS EVENT
FEDERER, NADAL AND OTHER STARS COMPETE IN PARIS
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