Juan Martin Del Potro halts Jeremy Chardy in quarters – Western and Southern Open 2012
Argentinean number one, Juan Martin Del Potro, crushed the French lucky loser, Jeremy Chardy, with a breadstick at the Western and Southern Open 2012 on Friday. He jolted down a 6-1, 6-3 victory against the world 38 to cruise into the semi-finals at this
ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event taking place in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The sixth seeded Argentine stayed on course to grab his third year-to-date title after ending Chardy’s impressive run at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Battling each other for the first time, Del Potro not only edged in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series
by 1-0 against the 25-year-old but also powered into the final four.
"I think I'm in a good level at the moment after the Olympics," said Del Potro after registering this success. "I have confidence to play against all the players. But anyway I'm still feeling a little difference between the top players and me. But I know
I'm getting closer very slowly, so that's important. I'm working for that."
Del Potro stormed into this Emirates Airline US Open Series event. He drew the first blood in the second game to leap to a 3-0 lead before the lucky loser could come on the score sheet. The Argentine maintained his intensity and reeled off the last three
games, eventually sealing the opener with a breadstick.
Ranked ninth in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Del Potro carried his spark in the follow-up set. He got the desiderated break in the fifth game to jump to a 4-2 lead. The Argentine held his remaining serves with self-assurance and capitalised
on another break chance in the last game to click the set with a 6-3 win.
Next challenge for Del Potro is the second seed, Novak Djokovic from Serbia. The Argentine recently captured the bronze medal after trashing the former world number one in straight sets at the London Olympics in Wimbledon. However, the Serb is coming off
winning his 12th Masters 1000 crown at the Rogers Cup. Del Potro needs to stay focus and play his best tennis in order to upset the Serbian ace.
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