Points won by each set: [ 31-22, 35-31, 37-39, 20-31, 34-28 ]
Points won directly behind the serve:
28 % Chardy – 45 of 159… 34 % Del Potro – 51 of 149
Winners:
49 % Chardy – 78 of 157… 23 % Del Potro – 36 of 151
When they met for the first time in the Cincinnati quarterfinal a few months before, Del Potro couldn’t play his normal backhand due to pain in his left wrist, yet he defeated Chardy 6-1 6-3 using just backhand slice. Thus it seemed improbable that playing without similar problem he could be threaten by the Frenchman. Weird things happen sometimes in tennis though, Chardy [35] was playing his forehands in Melbourne with tremendous aggression from start to finish, and he almost made a revenge in straight sets! He was two points away from that at 6:5* (30-all) in the 3rd set. Del Potro [7] leveled, then his 5-set victory seemed inevitable, but it’s tough to explain why he can’t play five-setters well (a modest 4-6 record after that match). In the most important 10-minute (five deuces) game at 2-all, Chardy saved a break point with a backhand overhead following very good backhand volley, and he easily won the last three games of the 3-hour 45-minute encounter.