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Saturday September 12, 2009

Del Potro in semis, Nadal-Gonzalez quarter-final tie suspended due to rain

JUAN Martin del Potro reached the US Open semi-finals on Thursday and then sat back and watched as the Rafael Nadal-Fernando Gon­zalez match was suspended in the third set due to rain.

The sixth-seeded Argentinian converted eight out of eight break points to reach the last four with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Marin Cilic of Croatia.

In a battle between two giant 20-year-olds, sixth-seeded Del Potro started slowly before wresting control of the match away from Cilic midway through the second set.

He finished with a flourish to reach his second Grand Slam semi-final of the year after his five-set loss to Roger Federer in he French Open in June.

Muscle man: Juan Martin Del Potro celebrating his 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals on Thursday. — Reuters

“It was a good comeback, you know, the crowd cheering for me at 1-3 in the second. I started to play better after that moment,” he said.

“Of course, I need to improve for the semis a lot, but I’m happy with my match and with the result.”

Del Potro has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks over since he emerged in 2006 from the tennis centre of Tandil, which also produced Mariano Zabaleta and Juan Monaco.

Del Potro enjoyed a good summer buildup to Flushing Meadows, winning in Washington and reaching the final in the Montreal Masters before running out of steam in the final against Andy Murray.

But he came into New York well-rested, having taken the next two weeks off and ready for what he has designated as his main target of the year.

“My dream is to win this tournament. I’m so close to doing it but now I am focusing on the semis. Both players so tough for me and they will want to win like me.”

Del Potro, though, will have to wait a while longer to find out who his semi-final opponent will be after the first rain of the fortnight forced the suspension of the day’s second semi-final with Nadal leading 7-6 (7-4), 6-6 and 3-2 in the tie-break, Gonzalez serving.

The Spaniard, though, was in some difficulty with a abdominal strain that had him wincing at times on court and calling for a medical timeout.

Nadal had the same injury problem in his bruising fourth-round match against Frenchman Gael Monfils and there will be serious doubts over whether he can go the full distance at Flushing Meadows.

The match was rescheduled along with the women’s semi-finals, but with heavy rain forcast in the New York area for most of the day, organisers could be facing a major scheduling headache for the weekend.

Already last year, the men’s singles final between Federer and Andy Murray was played a day late.

The other semi-final was already decided on Wednesday with top seed and defending champion Federer setting up another match with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic whom he defeated in the 2007 final and in last year’s semi-finals. — AFP


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