Juan Martin del Potro defeated Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the 2017 Delray Beach Open.
Del Potro hit cautiously off his backhand and survived a tumble in the first set that left him with a grazed right knee.
The Argentine struggled to generate pace on his backhand and mixed in a number of one-handed slices. When Anderson approached the net, del Potro elected to either lob or stretch him with well-placed, medium-paced backhands.
Del Potro was able to clai the win with one break in each set.
In the opening set he took the lead after breaking to go up 4-3 and seized his first break chance for a 2-1 lead in the second set.
“It’s not easy in my first match to show good tennis but I think I did well," del Potro said. "I survived in the first game of my serve, and then I started to serve much better. I started to feel the ball better and better. And I think for the conditions tonight, we made a good tennis match and always the most important thing is when you don’t feel 100 per cent is trying to win the match and I did.”
“I think I did well with my slices but I could improve my two-handed backhand a lot. For being my first match of the season, I think it’s okay, but I need to keep working hard and start to find the way to make winners with my backhand as well.” He added.
“It was (his forehand) but I can hit it even better. I made some easy mistakes with my forehand but fortunately not in the important moments. But when I have the confidence on the forehands I can hit it cross-court or down the line; I can play whatever I like, and that’s happened only with my forehand, not with my backhand yet and that’s what I have to work on."
“He made me play a couple of balls in the games I got broken on, and I played some loose points and that basically decided that match,” Anderson said.
In the second round, Del Potro faces Damir Dzumhur.
