Del Potro upsets Ferrer at Japan Open
Juan Martin Del Potro
upset top-seeded David Ferrer in straight sets on Friday to advance
to the semifinals of the Japan Open.
The fifth-seeded Del Potro beat Ferrer 6-1, 7-5 to end the defending
champion’s chance to repeat at the ATP event.
“It was a very tough match against one of the best players in the
world,” Del Potro said. “He won here last year and has been playing
well.”
Del Potro will play Richard Gasquet in the semifinals. The
fourth-seeded Frenchman defeated Germany’s Rainer Schuettler 6-3,
6-2.
Second-seeded Andy Roddick cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Viktor
Troicki for another semifinal berth. Roddick will face Tomas Berdych,
who beat third-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, 6-0, 6-4.
After cruising through the first set, Del Potro broke Ferrer in the
eighth game of the second set to take a 5-3 lead. Ferrer got back on
serve, but Del Potro broke in the final game, hitting a crosscourt
forehand winner on match point.
“I tried a lot things,” Ferrer said. “But Juan Martin is very
confident. He’s been winning a lot of matches lately and played very
well today.”
Ferrer had won his two previous meetings with the 20-year-old Del
Potro, who has won 28 of his last 29 matches.
Roddick, coming off winning the China Open on Sunday, was in control
from the outset against Troicki, who advanced to the quarterfinals
on Thursday when his opponent, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, retired from his
third-round match with an abdominal strain.
“That’s the best I’ve played so far,” said Roddick. “I didn’t serve
as well as I have the last couple of days but I played better from
the baseline. Hopefully, I can put the two together on the weekend.”
Roddick, coming off winning the China Open on Sunday, was in control
from the outset against Troicki, who advanced to the quarterfinals
on Thursday when his opponent, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, retired from his
third-round match with an abdominal strain.
“That’s the best I’ve played so far,” Roddick said. “I didn’t serve
as well as I have the last couple of days but I played better from
the baseline. Hopefully, I can put the two together on the weekend.”
In the WTA event, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki coasted to a 6-4,
6-1 victory over seventh-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn to reach the
semifinals.
Wozniacki will face Jarmila Gajdosova, who is in the draw as a lucky
loser. Gajdosova beat Klara Zakopalova 7-5, 7-5.
The other semifinal will be between No. 5 Kaia Kanepi, who beat
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1), and No. 8 Aleksandra
Wozniak, who downed Samantha Stosur 7-5, 6-3.
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