Del Potro wins Round 2 epic

US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro held off James Blake in a marathon five-setter on Wednesday,while Justine Henin advanced in her Grand Slam comeback with a win over the reigning Olympic champion....

US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro held off James Blake in a marathon five-setter on Wednesday,while Justine Henin advanced in her Grand Slam comeback with a win over the reigning Olympic champion. Fourth-seeded del Potro beat his 30-year-old American rival 6-4 6-7 3 5-7 6-3 10-8 in four hours,17 minutes.

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Henin,meanwhile,produced the biggest win of her comeback from 20 months in retirement with a 7-5 7-6 6 defeat of fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva in the night match. The win for the unranked Henin was another step closer to a possible quarter-final match against US Open champion Kim Clijsters,who scored a 6-3 6-3 win over Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand.

Earlier,Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick continued their paths towards a possible semi-final matchup. Nadal breezed to a 6-2 6-2 6-2 second-round win over Lukas Lacko of Slovakia while Roddick was equally untroubled by his opponent in a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win over Brazils Thomaz Bellucci.

Britains Andy Murray,who could meet Nadal in the quarter-finals,advanced to the third round after beating Marc Gicquel of France 6-1 6-4 6-3. Murray is attempting to win his first Grand Slam title and become the first British man in more than 70 years to win a singles major.

Del Potro,who beat Federer in last years US Open final,had a chance to serve for the match at 6-5 in the fifth after breaking Blake. But Blake broke back immediately,helped by two errors from the 21-year-old Argentine. Del Potro again broke Blake for a 9-8 lead and another chance to serve it out. He closed with a big serve out to Blakes backhand side on his first match point. Blake fell to 4-13 in five-set matches.

Henin had a match point at 5-4 and 40-30 but netted a forehand,then Dementieva produced consecutive backhand winners to level the second set. She again had a chance to serve for the match but was broken,with Dementieva forcing a tiebreaker and then leading it 3-1. The Russian also had a set point in the tiebreaker before Henin won three straight points. Finally,I made it! said Henin.

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