Third seed Juan Martin del Potro made it through to the third round of the Aegon Championships at Queen's by scraping past Xavier Malisse this evening.
In the first set just one break point was afforded by Del Potro, in the fifth game, but he saved it and a tie-break was needed to settle it.
It was Argentina's Del Potro who sneaked it, taking his first set point at 6-5 to win the set.
Malisse responded in the second, racing to a 5-0 lead before closing it out 6-1 and levelling the match.
The Belgian again broke Del Potro's serve at the start of the third but this time wasn't allowed to streak away as Del Potro broke back to make it 3-3.
It was three breaks in a row as Malisse re-established his advantage but then squandered it again as Del Potro tied the set after three deuces in the eighth game.
At 5-5 Malisse failed to take three break points and he paid the ultimate price as Del Potro broke to-love in the next to seal victory in two hours and 10 minutes.
The 24-year-old will next face either Jarkko Niemenen or Daniel Evans in round three.
Pascal Lemesre
