Saturday January 12, 2013
Del Potro crushes Baghdatis to set up Hewitt date
MELBOURNE: Argentine Juan Martin del Potro crushed Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-1 to reach the final of the Kooyong Classic yesterday, where he will face home favourite Lleyton Hewitt.
Cypriot Baghdatis, an Australian Open finalist in 2006, was left flat-footed on a windy day at the former home of the Australian Open as he went down with more than 20 unforced errors in his abbreviated appearance.
Del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner who has twice reached the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park, kept his mistakes to fewer than 10 in the rout at the tune-up event prior to Monday’s start of the first major of the season. Once he got his big serve going and found his feet in the blowing, hot conditions, there was little hope for Baghdatis, who commands a huge fan base in multi-ethnic Melbourne.
Del Potro dominated in the closing stages, winning eight of the last nine games as he unleashed his arsenal in the one-way second set: “It’s a nice court to play on, and this week is very good preparation for the Open. It’s important to be winning matches,” he said.
“I improved a bit today but I need to do that even more for next week if I want to have a chance to win.” — AFP
- Indonesian Rexy's advise to M'sian team: Stick together as a family
- Yongbo: Beat us if you can, not good for China to win all the time
- Thai Ratchanok wins many hearts with her gritty display
- Squash:M'sian Nicol beats New Zealander in straight sets to reach last four
- MSSM meet: 15 records in five days augur well for M’sian athletics
- Basketball: Warriors have no problem taming Dragons in Jakarta
- Caterham tried to be too clever, says Fernandes
- Adidas and Puma take rivalry to European football final
- Woman Natasha racer bids for first MSS win with her father
- National hockey juniors fare badly in tourney
- Donald bemoans 'terrible' display as he exits PGA
- Rudisha resists quick buck for gold rush in Rio
- Racing legend Prost rejects calls for F1 overhaul
- Selangor Hockey Association to hold two-day trials
- Woman Natasha racer bids for first MSS win with her father
- Silver Arrows dominate, but Rosberg prefers to stay humble
- Ben excited to make comeback after a long injury lay-off
- Squash:M'sian Nicol beats New Zealander in straight sets to reach last four
- Australian Marques leads at 111th Malaysian Amateur Open (MAO)
- Youngster Zaqhwan surprises himself with a new lap record
RSS
