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Round-up: Juan Martin del Potro battles back to down Nicolas Mahut
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Published 29/05/2018 at 11:04 GMT+1
Fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro made light of any injury concerns as he recovered from a poor start to beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the French Open first round on Tuesday.
Juan Martin Del Potro
Image credit: Getty Images
The big Argentine was feeble in the opening set, winning just one game, but he picked up the pace to claim a 1-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
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Highlights: Del Potro rallies to beat Mahut
Video credit: TNT Sports
Del Potro, whose career has been plagued by wrist injuries, withdrew from the this month's Rome Masters with a groin injury, sparking fears about his prospects in Paris.
When he lost the first set in 25 minutes it looked ominous for the 29-year-old but there looked nothing wrong with his movement as he powered past the world number 116.
Former U.S. Open champion Del Potro is playing at Roland Garros for only the second time since 2012 and will be a danger in the top half of the draw.
Denis Shapovalov showed why he's one of the most exciting prospects at Roland Garros with an impressive straight-sets 7-5 6-4 6-2 win over John Millman.
It was a cagey opening set in which Shapovalov came through with the crucial break of serve after the pair had battled to 5-5.
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Shapovalov: Winning Roland Garros would be a dream come true
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Again a solitary break of serve was sufficient for the Canadian in the second set, with Millman unable to find any rhythm in the third.
Watch the French Open live on Eurosport and the Eurosport Player
In what was the 24th seed's first main draw appearance at Roland Garros, the crowd got right behind the exciting starlet.
The 19-year-old will next take on Maximilian Marterer of Germany.
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Canada's Denis Shapovalov celebrates during his first round match against Australia's John Millman
Image credit: Reuters
Third-seed Marin Cilic defeated the unseeded Australian James Duckworth in straight sets in rainy conditions on Tuesday to progress through to the second round of the French Open.
"It's not often we play in the rain, so it was a bit different... the balls were a little bit heavier, a little bit different, but that's the special thing about the French Open," Cilic told the Philippe Chatrier court after his win.
The French Open is the only Grand Slam not to have a roofed court.
Cilic, who reached his third major final in Melbourne this year, was pushed to seven games in the second and third sets, winning 6-3 7-5 7-6(4). Duckworth is ranked 1072 in the world.
The Croatian would become only the 11th man in the Open era to reach the final of all four Grand Slams if he progresses through to the last two of this year's Coupe des Mousquetaires.
Men's Singles results
(1) Rafael Nadal beat Simone Bolelli: 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9)
Pablo Cuevas beat Aljaz Bedene: 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
(3) Marin Cilic beat James Duckworth: 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (4)
Jan-Lennard Struff beat Evgeny Donskoy: 6-1, 6-3, 6-0
Maximilian Marterer beat Ryan Harrison: 6-1, 6-3, 7-5
Hubert Hurkacz beat Tennys Sandgren: 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
(24) Denis Shapovalov beat John Millman: 7-5, 6-4, 6-2
(6) Kevin Anderson beat Paolo Lorenzi: 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
Thomas Fabbiano beat Matthew Ebden: 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
(9) John Isner beat Noah Rubin: 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (7)
Marton Fucsovics beat Vasek Pospisil: 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
(18) Fabio Fognini beat Pablo Andujar: 6-4, 6-2, 6-1
Horacio Zeballos beat Yuichi Sugita: 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2
(16) Kyle Edmund beat Alex de Minaur: 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
Guido Pella beat Joao Sousa: 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
Ruben Bemelmans beat Yuki Bhambri: 6-4, 6-4, 6-1
Steve Johnson beat (25) Adrian Mannarino: 7-6 (1), 6-2, 6-2
Mischa Zverev beat Florian Mayer: 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (3)
Elias Ymer beat Dudi Sela: 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-1
(5) Juan Martin del Potro beat Nicolas Mahut: 1-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
Sergiy Stakhovsky beat (28) Feliciano Lopez: 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
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