Juan Martin Del Potro prevails over Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals – London Olympics
Seeded eighth in the draw, Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina faced limited resistance in toppling Japan’s Kei Nishikori in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(4) to get through to the semi-finals at the 2012 London Olympics on Thursday.
Del Potro made a solid start, as he grabbed opening two games to build a 2-0 lead. Though, Nishikori hit back immediately to equalise the score at 2-2. The following three games went with serves, taking the score to 4-3 in the
Argentinean’s favour. Del Potro nailed a break in the eight to move ahead 5-3 but he failed to serve out the set at that moment, losing his serve in the ninth game to shorten the lead to 5-4. Nishikori managed to win only a single point in the following one,
getting broken and losing the opener 4-6.
Ranked ninth in the world, Del Potro came roaring in the second set, stinging a break in the second game and holding his subsequent serve to race to a 3-0 lead. The Argentinean player maintained his advantage till 5-2 but then
lost three in a row to square off the proceedings at 5-5. The following two games went with serve, taking the score to 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. Del Potro captured a 4-1 lead and sustained it till the end to win 7-6(4).
Del Potro relied on his second serves to inflict most of the damage to his opponent, winning 21 of the 24 points on them. He captured 19 of the 24 net points and committed 20 unforced errors compared to 16 by Nishikori.
The Argentinean contender required one hour and 55 minutes to come out victorious from the match.
Del Potro stated, while commenting on the proceedings of the encounter, "The match was tough to the end. We broke each other a lot of times. That's why what I did in the second set (grabbing a break of serve lead) wasn't definitive.
I made errors that I almost paid for dearly but I was able to get myself back in the match."
The Argentinean star will take on the top seed, Roger Federer, for a place in the Gold Medal match.
On facing Federer in the semi-finals, he added, "Once again against Federer. I'm calmly doing my job. It's no small thing to be among the four best and to battle the world's best. It's very important. I'll try to put up a fight."
Del Potro defeated Federer in the 2009 US Open final to win his only Grand Slam title.
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