DEL POTRO REGROUPS FOR OPENING WIN

World No. 11 Juan Martin del Potro recovered from a slow start to defeat 91st-ranked Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in first-round action Monday at the Australian Open.

Mannarino had upset del Potro in their one previous meeting last June at the Queen’s Club, and came out with confidence against the 2009 US Open champion. He took the opening set after 29 minutes, but his lead proved to be short-lived as the Argentine launched his comeback by rolling out to a 5-0 lead in the second.

Del Potro broke again to start the third set, and though Mannarino briefly drew level at 4-4, the 11th seed regained the service break and never looked back. He capitalised on his two break point chances in the fourth set and proceeded to clinch the win in just under three hours.

The 23-year-old del Potro is one of seven Grand Slam champions in the 128-man field. He achieved his best Australian Open showing in 2009, when he reached the quarter-finals (l. to Federer).

He will next face Slovenian Blaz Kavcic, who dismissed Great Britain’s James Ward 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Del Potro defeated Kavcic in straight sets last year at Roland Garros.

Tenth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro also bounced back from a lopsided opening set to defeat Poland’s Lukasz Kubot 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 in early action Monday. Almagro hit 40 winners to Kubot’s 56, but committed just 12 unforced errors to his opponent’s 60.

Fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, the No. 18 seed, joined his countryman in the second round with a 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-6(2) win over Argentine Leonardo Mayer. Lopez next meets Italian Flavio Cipolla, who knocked out former World No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Davydenko, a four-time Australian Open quarter-finalist, also bowed out in the first round last year at the Australian Open (l. to F. Mayer).

South African Kevin Anderson became the first man to advance to the second round at the 2012 Australian Open, converting six of his 13 break points to dismiss Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 52 minutes. The victory marked Anderson’s first at Melbourne Park after opening round losses in his previous four appearances.