Juan Martin Del Potro Rolls into Third Round

With seeds Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori and John Isner now out of the picture, Juan Martin Del Potro’s quarter of the BNP Paribas Open draw suddenly looks a whole lot more open.

The No. 6 seed furthered his case for a return trip to the final for the first time since 2013 (l. to Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-4), moving into the third round with a businesslike 6-2, 6-1 win over rising Aussie 19-year-old Alex de Minaur.

“I played my game during whole match,” Del Potro told BNPParibasOpen.com. “I played very aggressive in my return games. I served well, and I think I played better than I expected before the match.”

The Lleyton Hewitt pupil de Minaur, nicknamed “Demon,” made waves earlier this year when he reached the Brisbane semifinals as a wild card, following that with a run to the Sydney final. He became the youngest player to reach semis in consecutive weeks since 18-year-old Nadal in 2005. But de Minaur couldn’t solve the 6-foot-6 Argentine in Stadium 1.

Del Potro, who defeated three of his fellow Top-10 players in succession en route to his 21^st ATP title in Acapulco only days ago, moves on to face 29^th seed David Ferrer. He’s an even 6-6 against the Spaniard in FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings.

No. 2 seed Marin Cilic, a potential quarterfinal opponent for Del Potro, also advanced on Sunday with a 7-5, 6-3 decision over Hungary’s Martin Fucsovics. No. 6 seeded American Jack Sock claimed a 6-2, 7-5 win over Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano, while qualifier Marcos Baghdatis upset No. 14 seed Diego Schwartzman 7-5, 6-4.

The all-Canadian clash between No. 32 seed Milos Raonic and 17-year-old wunderkind Felix Auger-Aliassime went to the veteran 6-4, 6-4.

Joao Sousa of Portugal reeled off five straight games in the third set to score a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 upset of No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev, who was aiming to reach the third round for the third straight year.