THURSDAY, SEPT. 8 Juan Martin del Potro now really looks like Grand Slam contender. The tall Argentine scored a heady and clinical 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-1 win over a mentally Marin Cilic on Thursday to reach the semis, coming from a break down in
the second set.
The sixth seed will meet the winner of the match between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez, whose match was suspended for rain twice, was finally called off at midnight with Nadal ahead 7-6 (4), 6-6 and leading 3-2 in the tiebreaker. The match will resume on Friday.
Del Potro, who has lost only one match since Wimbledon, says his dream is to win the USO more than any other event. “My dream is to win this tournament,” “I’m so close to do it. It’s my favorite surface, the biggest stadium than other (grand slams). Many Argentines come here to see the match, so for me, it’s the best one. Cilic, who had upset Andy Murray, couldn’t hold on to a 3-1 lead in the second set as Del Potro did a much better job returning serve and then Croat couldn’t keep a ball in the court.
“Definitely he started to play much better and not giving me so many chances to dictate the game,” the Croat said. “He was not missing and also putting a lot of pressure on me Then it was tough for me to hold that level of game.”
Novak Djokovic out legged Fernando Verdasco 7-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 and will face five-times champion Roger Federer in the semis, who survived Robin Soderling 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (6). The pair faced off in the ’07 final and ’08 semis, both wins for the Swiss.
“Mentally it was very important for me to overcome today’s challenge and to be able to win and to get to the semi-finals first time in the grand slams in 2009,” said Djokovic. “So now that I’ve done it I feel kind of a relief and I hope I can continue playing well and challenge Federer.”
The Swiss owns an 8-4 record against the Serb, but Dkokovic took him down at Miami and Monte Carlo this year. However, Federer overpowered the Serb in the Cincy final last month and is playing much more freely now.
“Obviously a tough match,” Federer said. “IHe’s done well to come through. There’s no reason to impress, I think. He’s put himself in this position. He’s done well against me in the past, but I beat him in Cincinnati and I hope I can build on that, and try to beat him again here on Saturday.”
