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French Open: Juan Martin del Potro comforts tearful opponent Nicolas Almagro

PARIS: Nicolas Almagro and Juan Martin del Potro were struggling to move, but when Almagro stopped completely, it produced one of the most moving scenes in recent French Open memory.

An hour and a half into their second-round match Thursday, Almagro hunched over, hands on his knees, barely glancing up to see del Potro's serve sail past him. He stayed bent over and shook his head as the umpire and del Potro moved toward him. A recurring left knee injury had worsened throughout the match.

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Tennis: Almagro collapses in tears

Juan Martin Del Potro embraces Nicolas Almagro after he is forced to retire in their match at Roland Garros

When Almagro dropped his racket in resignation and covered his face with both hands, it was clear the match, which had been deadlocked at 6-3, 3-6, 1-1, was over.

Del Potro, known as the sport's gentle giant, had been struggling with a groin injury of his own since midway through the first set. But seeing Almagro in need, he swung one leg and then the other over the net and walked toward his opponent, whose sobs grew louder before he fell backward onto the red clay, his chest heaving as he cried.

As medical attendants ran onto the court, del Potro crouched beside Almagro and tried to comfort him. Del Potro signalled for a bottle of water to be brought over, even opened it for Almagro, and helped him stand up.

As they walked together toward their chairs, Almagro, still disconsolate, turned back to embrace del Potro. When Almagro sat down in his chair and again put his head in his hands, del Potro sat down next to him, rubbed his head and tried to say consoling words.

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"I just do what my heart feels," del Potro said after the match.

Although sun has shone throughout this French Open, a contrast to last year's soggy "Drench Open," tears have flooded onto the clay several times during this emotional first week. On Wednesday, Steve Johnson broke down on Court 6 after reaching the third round just weeks after the death of his father.

"Oh, boy," the commentator Mary Carillo said on Tennis Channel as del Potro soothed Almagro, "this sport is going to kill me."

Del Potro, the US Open champion in 2009 who has struggled with injuries in his stop-and-start career, said he tried to lift Almagro's spirit by mentioning positive things in his life, to put his continued injury frustrations in tennis in perspective.

"I say to him, 'Try to be calm.' Try to think about his family, his baby," del Potro said. "And, sometimes, the heart is first."

Del Potro, the No. 29 seed, will next face top-seeded Andy Murray, who came back from dropping the first set to prevail, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3), over 50th-ranked Martin Klizan.

Murray and del Potro faced off twice last year in significant matches. In August, Murray won the gold medal match at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in four sets. In September in Glasgow, del Potro beat Murray in five sets in the Davis Cup semifinals to help lead Argentina past Britain. Argentina eventually won the Cup.

"It's a tough match, not an easy third round," said Murray, who has won six of his nine matches against del Potro. "He's, in my opinion, one of the best players in the world - you know, when he's fit and healthy."

Emotions of another sort spilled over on Court 3, where 18th-seeded Nick Kyrgios lost, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, to 56th-ranked Kevin Anderson, a South African veteran who dropped from the top 10 and is working his way back from injury.

After double-faulting twice to give Anderson the second set, Kyrgios threw his racket to the ground, breaking it. He then smashed it six more times, earning a point penalty. Anderson rolled from there.

No. 13-seeded Tomas Berdych lost, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, to Karen Khachanov, a hard-hitting 21-year-old Russian. Khachanov next faces No. 21 John Isner, who with Johnson was one of two American men to reach the second round. Isner defeated Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2).

Other winners on the men's side included No. 3-seeded Stan Wawrinka, No. 7 Marin Cilic, No. 8 Kei Nishikori and No. 15 Gael Monfils.

In the women's draw, No. 12 Madison Keys, an American who like del Potro has been playing with a surgically repaired left wrist, endured a flare-up midway through the first set of her 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 loss to the 290th-ranked qualifier Petra Martic.

Keys had surgery on her wrist in October and missed the beginning of the season.

She admitted that any pain in her wrist can make her "panicky" and lamented that "everyone keeps telling me it's just going to take time" to stop having twinges when she mis-hits a ball.

The frustration, she said, was worse than the pain itself.

"I played the last year in pain, and I can deal with that; it's just the frustration of getting it fixed and just feeling like you're almost there," Keys said. "And then, especially happening at a Slam, it's just tough."

Second-seeded Karolina Pliskova and ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska each dropped a set, but advanced to the third round. Other winners Thursday included No. 3 Simona Halep, No. 5 Elina Svitolina and No. 14 Elena Vesnina.

New York Times