Argentine Juan Martin del Potro rallied from down a double break at 0-3 in the final set to dash ATP World Tour Champion Rafael Nadal’s hopes of winning a first Sony Ericsson Open title. The sixth seed defeated the top-ranked Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) in a thrilling quarter-final match Thursday at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Miami.
World No. 7 del Potro broke Nadal in the ninth game of the first set before serving out a one-set lead to mark the first time in five matches that he has won even a set against the Spaniard. The Argentine then moved into a commanding position in the match as he broke to lead 2-1 in the second set. However, Nadal was quick to make amends and immediately broke back before winning the next three games to open up a 5-2 lead. Del Potro held for 3-5, but could not prevent Nadal from leveling the match as he served out 6-3.
The Mallorcan broke twice at the start of the final set to create a 3-0 lead, but del Potro refused to concede and he complimented a spate of errors from six-time Grand Slam champion Nadal with an array of winners to bring the score back to 3-3. As del Potro continued to go for his shots, Nadal worked hard to bring down his error count and was rewarded with a break point chance in the seventh game. The opportunity was quickly snuffed out by del Potro, who put Nadal on the back foot with two rifling forehands before sealing the point with a backhand volley into the open court.
"I start to enjoy the match, the people, the crowds, the quarter-finals, and I start to play more relaxed and more aggressive, too," said del Potro about his mindset down two breaks of serve. "Then the match going different... When I was 5-4, I say, Now I can beat him. That's was a big difference in my mind."
The atmosphere on Stadium reached fever pitch in a gripping 11th game as del Potro was presented with two match points at 15/40 as Nadal placed a forehand volley wide. Nadal saved the first with an ace and was spared on the second as del Potro’s booming forehand for once found the net. A fired up Nadal was still not out of danger though as a rare double fault from the left-hander gave del Potro a third match-point chance. The gritty Spaniard once again stepped up a gear when he needed to and fired another ace to rescue the point before going on to hold his game.
Nadal seemed to have the luck in his favor in the tie-break as a net cord dripped over del Potro’s side of the net to hand the Spaniard a 3-2 lead. However, a defiant del Potro immediately went on the attack and was rewarded as he leveled at 3-3. The Tandil native then turned the tables with a forehand winner to earn a mini-break advantage. A backhand winner back behind Nadal earned del Potro three match points at 6-3 and he converted his first as Nadal’s rallying forehand landed in the net after two hours and 59 minutes.
Del Potro pointed out the difference in his performance compared to his previous matches against Nadal: "Because always I was keep going and keep trying. I beat him with my mind and with my game. When we played long points, I was dominating every time, so that was the key of the last set, of the tie-break."
The 20-year-old del Potro is through to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final, improving on quarter-final showings in Indian Wells two weeks ago – when he lost to Nadal – and in Madrid in 2008 (l. to Federer). The top South American, who has reached the quarter-finals or better at six events this season, will jump to a career-high No. 5 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings next week.
The right-hander enjoyed a break out season in 2008, winning his first four ATP World Tour titles from five finals, and was rewarded by finishing as the youngest player (20) in the year-end Top 10 at No. 9. He opened the 2009 tennis season with his fifth ATP World Tour title in Auckland (d. Querrey).
The 22-year-old Nadal had been hunting for his first Sony Ericsson Open title this week after twice being denied in the title match with a five-set loss to Roger Federer in 2005 and defeat to Nikolay Davydenko last year. Thursday's loss ended his run of 11-straight wins, which included his 13th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells two weeks ago (d. Murray).
“I didn't came back very strong,” said Nadal, discussing his recovery in the second set. “He started to make a lot of mistakes; I think I played really badly all the time. That's the truth of the match. Later when I have 3-0 in the third set I played worse. It was an amazing disaster. I think he didn't play an unbelievable match, but I didn't play on my best level today. But anyway, I want to congratulate for my team and del Potro. He started the season playing well. It's a good win for him.”
ATP World Tour No. 4 Andy Murray was merciless in his pursuit of a place in the Sony Ericsson Open semi-finals as he crushed an injured Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2 Thursday evening. After Verdasco suffered the injury in the second game of the match, he was unable to hold serve in the first set. Murray broke the eighth seed three times – while surrendering his own serve just once in the fifth game – to race out to a 6-1 one-set lead.
The Scot carried his ruthless efficiency into the second set and broke Verdasco twice more to earn a 4-0 lead - at which point, Verdasco later admitted, he did consider retirement. The Madrid native battled on to hold serve for the first time in the match to register on the scoreboard at 4-1 and again at 5-2. However, he could find no way to break down Murray, whose rifling backhand cross court set him up with two match points at 5-2, 40/15 and he converted immediately as Verdasco placed a backhand wide after just 75 minutes of play.
The 21-year-old Murray, who is through to his second Miami semi-final (l. to Djokovic in 2007), said: “I played solid. I returned well. You know, took some chances on his second serve, put the ball in tough places for him and used my head. It wasn't one thing in particular. I just did a lot of things well tonight.”
After winning their first four career meetings for the loss of just one set, Murray was ousted by the 25-year-old Verdasco in five sets in the Australian Open fourth round as the Spaniard went on an inspired run to his first Grand Slam semi-final (l. to Nadal). Following his success in Melbourne, Verdasco debuted in the Top 10 at No. 9 of the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings.
“He played good. He's a great player. He's one of the best players right now. If you're not 100%, you have no chances to win against him,” said Verdasco. “I was feeling pretty good for the match, and I was unlucky that this (injury) happened in the second game of the match. But I don't like to also make excuses for the loss. He played better than me and he deserved the victory.”
Murray has reached the final at three of the past four ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournaments and won his first two titles at Cincinnati (d. Djokovic) and Madrid (d. Simon). Two weeks ago, he finished runner-up to Nadal in the Indian Wells final after defeating Federer for the second time this season in the semi-finals.
The right-hander is off to a career-best 24-2 start in the 2009 season and won his 9th and 10th ATP World Tour titles in Doha (d. Federer in SF, Roddick in F) and Rotterdam (d. Nadal).
Murray takes a 2-0 career lead into his semi-final clash with del Potro, whom he last defeated in a tight four-set encounter in the 2008 US Open quarter-finals. He said: “I'm sure he's in good physical shape, but it was a pretty brutal match today and a lot of long points. Both guys did a lot of running – obviously better for me the longer the match went. Mine was a quick one, so in that respect that's obviously an advantage to me. But he's obviously still going to be very dangerous.”
(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_2910.ASP)
