Juan Martín del Potro breezed into his first Grand Slam championship semi-final Wednesday with a performance that was full of confidence and maturity against No. 16 seed Tommy Robredo of Spain at Roland Garros.
The fifth-seeded Argentine avoided a repeat of his 2008 US Open (l. to Murray) and 2009 Australian Open (l. to Federer) quarter-final exits with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win in two hours and seven minutes.
At 20 years of age, the youngest player left in the singles draw must now reverse a five-match losing streak against Roger Federer if he is to continue his dream of emulating Guillermo Vilas and Gaston Gaudio as a Roland Garros champion.
Del Potro hit 36 winners as his extra weight of shot – particularly on his serve and forehand – pinned Robredo behind the baseline for much of the pair’s second meeting. The Argentine faced his first test on serve in an epic fourth game of the second set, when he fought back from 0-40 in a game of seven deuces.
In a nervous final game, del Potro converted his fifth match point with a forehand winner for his 31st win of the year (31-8 record). He fired 14 aces past Robredo and won 46 of 51 points on his first serve, while Robredo failed to convert any of his seven break point opportunities and committed 26 unforced errors.
Del Potro is the first Argentine to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since David Nalbandian at Roland Garros in 2006. He is the eighth Argentine to reach the last four in the Open Era.
Robredo, had previously lost in the Roland Garros quarter-finals in 2003 (l. to Costa), 2005 (l. to Davydenko), and 2007 (l. to Federer). He dropped to a 9-34 lifetime record against Top 5 players.
The 27 year old dropped to 25-7 on clay courts and 32-11 overall this year. He won two ATP World Tour titles at Costa do Sauipe and Buenos Aires in February.
(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3865.ASP)
