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Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Del Potro powers past Mahut after poor start

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 29, 2018 Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in action during his first round match against France's Nicolas Mahut REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS (Reuters) - 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.

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.

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.

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 29, 2018 France's Nicolas Mahut in action during his first round match against Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

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.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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