Juan Martin Del Potro upsets Robin Soderling in the Estoril Open
Eighth seeded Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro downed top seeded Swede Robin Soderling in straight sets on Friday after heavy hailstorm interrupted the match. He registered a 6-4, 7-5 win over the 26-year-old Swede to advance
into the semi-finals of the 2011 Estadio Nacional in Oeiras, Portugal.
The former number four, Del Potro won for the fourth straight time against the world number five Soderling and extended his lead in their head-to-head series by 4-1. He took one hour and fifty-seven minutes to trash the higher
ranked Swede at Estoril Court Central.
The Argentinean is in awesome form and had won eight out of last ten matches. He recently won the title at Delray Beach and made semi-final berth at San Jose, Memphis and Indian Wells. Del Porto entered this tournament confidently
and overpowered Portuguese qualifier Pedro Sousa and Colombian Alejandro Falla convincingly in the pre-quarter rounds.
22-year-old displayed awe-inspiring skills in the opening set and despite committing more double faults and lower first serve share, he registered an impressive 77 percent win on it. Del Potro also smacked four aces and saved all
four breakpoints faced with his amazing defensive skills. He then converted one out of two breakpoint opportunities to seal the set by winning six games to Soderling’s four.
The Argentinean lost his way into the final set and was trailing 1-4 when heavy rain stopped the match at 3:47pm local time. The match resumed at 7:15 pm local time and Del Potro entered with a different strategy as he reeled off
six games out of last seven to clinch the set with a 7-5 win. He registered a slightly higher first serve share of 69 percent as compared to Soderling’s 64 percent and earned an awesome 70 percent win on it. He saved one out of two breakpoints but broke the
Swede’s serve twice to win easily.
"I had to really focus, with the rain delay," said Del Potro. "I am very happy as I took my opportunities in the second set on return to the court.”
Del Potro had missed many tournaments last year due to wrist injury. Recovered from this injury, the Argentine said, "My wrist is almost fine. It is getting better, but when the weather is really humid I can feel something. That
is normal the doctors say. I am getting better, quicker than I thought."
Up next for the Argentinean is Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas who upset eighth seeded Brazilian Thomaz in straight sets in eighty minutes later that day. 25-year-old registered a 6-4, 6-2 score line to book a semi-final spot.
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