Juan Martin del Potro suffered a shock second-round defeat in the early hours of Friday morning at the Australian Open, toppling world No. 1. 62 Roberto Bautista Agut.
The no. 5 seeds arrived in Melbourne in fine form after beating Bernard Tomic in straight sets in the final of the Sydney International tournament last Sunday.
But on a day of extreme heat followed by storms, the Argentine lost 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 in three hours and 53 minutes in the face of an excellent serve from the Spaniard.
“I feel comfortable on these pitches. These pitches are good for my game,” said Bautista Agut after his epic win, which ended at 1:20am local time.
“I serve and return very well. That helps me a lot. Today I was able to reciprocate a lot of serves from del Potro. That was the key to winning the fourth and fifth sets,” he added.
Del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner, was merciful with his defeat but will have to wait another year to better his modest record in Melbourne – he’s reached the quarterfinals twice (2009 and 2012).
“I know him very well. I think he played a great match over the four hours,” said del Potro. “It’s hard (to lose) when you’ve played at a very high level for four hours.
“But he played incredible shots at every moment. During the break point, he served well. He won with forehands and backhands and played close to the line very often during the game.”
Bautista Agut’s reward is a third-round match against world No. 1. 28 Benoit Paire from France.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, there were no alarms for the top seeds as Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer all came through in straight sets.
World No. 1 Nadal defeated Australian teenager Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-2 6-4 6-2 under the Rod Laver Arena roof while Murray defeated French qualifier Vincent Millot 6-2 6-2 7-5 defeated.
Federer, chasing his fifth Australian Open title, beat Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic 6-2 6-1 7-6 to claim his 70th win in Melbourne.
“I’m happy on a hot day like this,” said Federer.
“It was a good first two sets, I thought. I played really aggressively and it worked. In the third set I think he was more consistent. He served better. It was getting closer. I’m glad I did it three,” he added.
World No. 10 and 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is also secure in the third round after defeating Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 7-6 6-4 6-4.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori is also safely through after beating Serbian Dusan Lajovic in straight sets 6-1 6-1 7-6.
In the women’s category, defending champion Victoria Azarenka made easy work of her second-round opponent Barbora Zahlavova Strycova from the Czech Republic.
The Belarusian, who is aiming for his third consecutive title in Melbourne, won 6-1, 6-4 in just under 90 minutes and set up a meeting with Austria’s Yvonne Meusburger.
2008 champion Maria Sharapova had a far tougher match, taking three hours to defeat Italy’s Karin Knapp 6-3 4-6 10-8.
“I’m really happy to have made it through today. I really am,” said a relieved Sharapova after an exhausting match in the scorching heat.
“I’ve worked very hard over the past few months and I wanted this match. I didn’t play my best tennis. I didn’t do a lot of things well. But I got through it and sometimes that’s important.” She added.
France’s Alize Comet is next for the 26-year-old Russian.
Tenth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki is also through after a three-set win (6-0, 1-6, 6-3) against Christina McHale from the USA, while fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska after two sets with 6-0, 7-5 a place in the third round secured victory against Olga Govortsova from Belarus.
Former semi-finalist Jelena Jankovic from Serbia was also a winner on Thursday. The eighth seed was overtaken by Japan’s Ayumi Morita 6-2, 6-0.
Thirteenth-seeded and last year’s semifinalist Sloane Stephens lost the first set to her second-round opponent Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic but bounced back to win 3-6 6-2 7-5.
The American meets Elina Svitolina from Ukraine in the third round.
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