Juan Martin Del Potro withstood an encouraging performance from Thanasi Kokkinakis to win 6-3 3-6 7-6 6-4 and book a second round meeting with Ernests Gulbis. The match featured high-quality displays from both players as they served well, hit plenty of winners and kept their unforced error counts relatively low. But it was the Argentine who played the better tennis at the crucial moments as he used all his experience to come out on top.

After a rapturous welcome from the crowd, Del Potro made an excellent start to the match as he raced through a love hold, which included two aces, then immediately broke the Australian. Kokkinakis got himself on the scoreboard in game four but had to save two break points with smooth groundstrokes to secure the hold. The World No.486 raised his game for the rest of the set but was unable to break the Argentine and lost it 6-3.

The second set was even better from both players as they produced an exhibition of great serving. Del Potro also lit up the occasion with some excellent forehand winners and Kokkinakis chipped in with a succession of superb passing shots. And it was the Australian who earned the only break of the set in the eighth game when he took advantage of a lucky net cord to go up 0-30. The Argentine won the next point, then Kokkinakis outlasted him in a fantastic rally to earn two break points. He only needed one as Del Potro made an unforced error, then held with ease to win the second set 6-3.

A rollercoaster third set went one way and then the other as Kokkinakis charged into a 3-1 lead, only for Del Potro to win three games in a row and sneak ahead. Both players’ serving rhythms returned at that stage, however, and it came down to a tie-break to decide the set. The Australian, who was once World No.69, started badly with a double fault and never recovered. He made another double fault to go 5-1 down, and a forehand winner from the Argentine soon sealed the set 7-6(2).

Like the second and third sets, the fourth set could have gone either way as both players again served well to leave the score locked at 4-4. However, at 30-all in Kokkinakis’ service game, Del Potro forced him into an error to earn break point, and a forehand unforced error from the Australian handed it to the Argentine. The World No.486 refused to give up without a fight and saved six match points as Del Potro attempted to serve for the match, but the Argentine eventually prevailed to win the set 6-4.

Del Potro said, “It was a really tough match, as I expected. He has a good game to play on grass, and he serves really, really fast. He moves well from the baseline. But I think he made easy mistakes in important moments of the match. I took all my chances to survive, and then started to play better.” He continued, “I think I played a good match, as it was my first on grass for a long time. I'm looking forward to playing better in the second round.”

Kokkinakis was understandably frustrated by the way he played the crucial points. He said, “Definitely you want to win a point where there is a lot of promise and it looks like you're playing good and you're always competitive with good players, but then you want to get over that hump and start winning those matches because a consolation prize isn't great.”

The Australian hopes the way he handles those situations will improve with experience. He said, “I won in Queen's in a match I probably shouldn't have won. Then I have had others where (it came down to) a couple of points here and there. Five sets is different. You've got to keep your focus for so long. And in the third set, I just took my foot off the gas a little bit and he got momentum. Luckily, I was able to take it to a breaker. But I played a horrible breaker. Two double faults in a tiebreak - you're not winning that. Then in the fourth, it was a couple of points here and there. It was same at the French Open. Hopefully, soon I'll get it.”

After the match, Del Potro shared some words of encouragement for his beaten opponent with regards to tennis and injury troubles. He said, “He's pretty young. He has to deal with all these pains. He has everything to play good tennis in the future. But the body and the health are first of all. My advice is to try to stay strong mentally all the time, listen to the doctors and the physios, and then the tennis comes after all these things.”

Kokkinakis was pleased when he was told what the Argentine had said about him. He said, “It's obviously good hearing it from such a great player. My coaches and I work on having a lot of weapons. We are actually pretty similar players, Del Potro and me. I showed glimpses of it where I could string two games of really good tennis together, and then my focus and intensity dropped a little bit. I think that's going to be the thing (I need to address) going forward.” If the Australian can play even more like Del Potro in the future, he could become an exceptional player.