Sunday, February 17, 2013
Del Potro on fire as he downs Dimitrov to reach final
By Theo Ruizenaar
ROTTERDAM (Reuters) - Argentine Juan Martin del Potro is determined to go one step further than his runner-up finish 12 months ago at the World Indoor Tournament as he reached the final with a 6-4 6-4 win over Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday.
Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina hits a return to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria during their men's singles semi-final tennis match at the World Indoor Tournament in Rotterdam February 16, 2013. REUTERS/Paul Vreeker/United PhotosFollowing the shock defeat of Roger Federer on Friday, second seed Del Potro is now favourite to add his name to the banner of champions wrapped around the Ahoy Arena by beating either Julien Benneteau or Gilles Simon in Sunday's showdown.
Del Potro has been in devastating form and reached the title match without dropping his serve all week.
From the moment the lanky Argentine broke his Bulgarian opponent's service in the third game, when Dimitrov missed an easy volley, there seemed to be only one winner.
"My serve is really going well and that gives a lot of confidence for the rest of my game plan," Del Potro told reporters.
"I'm satisfied with this win against a player with a great potential who can be top 10 of 20 in the near future."
Despite his favourite status in the final, 2009 U.S. Open champion Del Potro did not want to talk up his chances.
"It was a bit of surprise that Roger went out but it doesn't please me as I don't pay any attention to the other half of the draw before the final," he said.
"It doesn't matter who I play tomorrow, I just have to stick with my game plan and play it hard."
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