Del Potro Eases into Estoril with Straights Sets Win

(May 3rd, 2012) The last time we saw Juan Martin Del Potro he was helping his Argentinean team move past the Croatian team in Davis Cup. But after a five-week break, Del Potro is back in action at the Estoril Open hoping to defend his title.

Del Potro got into the swing of things as he took on Portuguese No. 1 Rui Machado. Winning 70% of his service points and saving both break points against him in the first set, Del Potro rolled past Machado 6-1, 6-0 in just over an hour.

"I like to play on clay, I prefer hard courts obviously, but I have been working hard at home, before I came here," Del Potro said later. "This tournament is very important to my clay-court season and for my confidence ahead of the Masters 1000 tournaments and Roland Garros."

Del Potro, who is now just outside the top ten with a ranking of No. 12 this week, will next face No. 7 seed Albert Montanes who won the title in 2009 and 2010. Montanes battled against American Bobby Reynolds who took the first set but was unable to stop the Spaniard as Montanes prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Another Spaniard, No. 4 seed Albert Ramos, hit five aces en route to a 7-5, 6-0 win over German veteran Bjorn Phau. Ramos will next face wildcard Joao Sousa who won 3-6, 6-3, 4-2 over Denis Istomin after Istomin retired with a back injury.