Wimbledon 2017 men’s round-up: Gulbis downs Del Potro, Ferrer though after Darcis retires

Updated 06/07/2017 at 17:39 GMT

Latvian Ernests Gulbis deprived Wimbledon of a sequel to one of the best men's singles matches in recent years when he knocked out Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro on Thursday.

Latvia's Ernests Gulbis returns against Argentina's Juan Martin del Potroduring their men's singles second round match on the fourth day of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 6, 201

Image credit: Getty Images

A high-octane clash between Del Potro and three-times champion Novak Djokovic looked likely in the third round, stoking memories of their epic 2013 semi-final, but Latvian Gulbis had other ideas. He won 6-4 6-4 7-6(3).

Gulbis has struggled with shoulder and wrist injuries since reaching the 2014 French Open semi-finals, losing to Djokovic, and dropped to 589 in the world rankings on Monday.

Arriving at Wimbledon on a protected ranking of 99, Gulbis had won only two matches all year at any level.

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But he backed up his first-round win over Victor Estrella Burgos, in which he dropped four games, with a superb performance against 29th seed Del Potro, another player plagued with injuries in recent years.

Grigor Dimitrov cruised past Marcos Baghdatis 6-3 6-2 6-1 to reach the third round of Wimbledon on Thursday.

Grigor Dimitrov, Wimbledon 2017

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The 13th seed proved too powerful for the Cypriot, breaking the 2006 semi-finalist on six occasions – increasing the times he did so in each set.

Dimitrov will face either John Isner or Dudi Sela in the next round, with the Bulgarian striving to reach his first ever Grand Slam final, having made the semis at the Australian Open earlier this year.

The 26-year-old finds himself in the same quarter as Roger Federer, who will look to overcome Dusan Lajovic later this afternoon.

Wimbledon highlights are live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player at 10pm

Spain's David Ferrer was on court only briefly on Thursday as Wimbledon second round opponent Steve Darcis retired injured.

Ferrer, twice a quarter-finalist at the grasscourt slam, was leading 3-0 when Belgium's Darcis cried off with a back injury.

David Ferrer

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Darcis, who once beat Rafa Nadal at Wimbledon, is the eighth player to retire in the men's singles at this year's championships.

Unseeded Ferrer will play either Czech Tomas Berdych or American Ryan Harrison in the third round.

Talented prospect Mischa Zverev survived a Mickhail Kukushin fightback to win a five-set epic 6-1 6-2 2-6 3-6 6-4 on Court 14, while Frenchman Adrian Mannarino also emerged victorious from a five-set encounter, seeing off Yuichi Sugita.

Additional reporting from Reuters

Results from the Wimbledon Men's Singles matches on Thursday

Round 2

8-Dominic Thiem (Austria) beat Gilles Simon (France) 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-4

Adrian Mannarino (France) beat Yuichi Sugita (Japan) 6-1 5-7 4-6 7-6(2) 6-2

Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) beat 29-Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) 6-4 6-4 7-6(3)

Dudi Sela (Israel) beat 23-John Isner (U.S.) 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3

15-Gael Monfils (France) beat Kyle Edmund (Britain) 7-6(1) 6-4 6-4

27-Mischa Zverev (Germany) beat Mikhail Kukushkin (Kazakhstan) 6-1 6-2 2-6 3-6 6-4

2-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Adam Pavlasek (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-2 6-1

13-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 6-3 6-2 6-1

David Ferrer (Spain) beat Steve Darcis (Belgium) 3-0 (Darcis retired)

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