Juan Martin del Potro bounces over Albert Montanes to reach the semi-final – Estoril Open 2012
Argentine top seed, Juan Martin del Potro, ousted the Spanish veteran, Albert Montanes, in the quarter-final round of the Estoril Open to inch a step closer at retaining his title. He never faced any sort of trouble at all and
reigned supreme over the seventh seed Spaniard in an hour and 17 minutes.
Montanes started off poorly that affected his whole match. He dropped the opening serve game and couldn’t win a single point in the following game that helped the Argentine to build a lead of 2-0. However, a cameo from the Spanish
star witnessed a couple of games triumph including a breakthrough but he failed to deprive del Potro of that early edge and lost the second breakpoint in the fifth game.
Potro had already squandered one opportunity in the set. He was not going to waste any other chances; devastated the Spaniard in the following serve game smashing a couple of aces and coupled it with three stunning winners to bag
another breakthrough that registered a monumental lead of 5-2.
Montanes tested his opponent in the final game but wasn’t good enough to beat the top seed. The Argentine bagged the opening set seeing no hurdle at all. He looked fit and tough as ever; never slowed down the pace of the play and
always thumped the veteran with his powerful cross-court returns.
The Spaniard faced a tough fight in the second set right from the start. He was forced to save a couple of breakpoints to hang on to his serve game. The top seed Argentine faced no difficulty at all in holding his serve and pushed
the scores to 1-1.
A swap of breakpoints further enhanced the scores to 2-2 before the Argentine broke serve for the second time in the set and took a lead of 3-2. This time he hung on to his serve and consolidated his position in the match.
Montanes faltered again in the seventh game and dropped one more breakpoint that cleared the way for the Argentine. A thumping serve hold featuring three aces rounded off the match in grand fashion. Del Potro looks to be in sublime
run of form and almost unbeatable at the moment.
Next up for the Argentine is the third seed Swiss star, Stanislas Wawrinka, who ousted the sixth seed Dutch, Robin Haase, to book a date with Del Potro. It is expected to be a tight matchup.
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