US Open tennis update sep 11,2009
Juan Martin del Potro reached the US Open semi-finals and then sat back and watched as the Rafael Nadal-Fernando Gonzalez match was suspended in the third set due to rain. The sixth-seeded Argentinian converted eight out of eight break points to reach the last four with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Marin Cilic of Croatia. In a battle between two giant 20-year-olds, sixth-seeded Del Potro started slowly before wresting control of the match away from Cilic midway through the second set.
He finished with a flourish to reach his second Grand Slam semi-final of the year after his five-set loss to Roger Federer in he French Open in June. “It was a good comeback, you know, the crowd cheering for me at 1-3 in the second. I started to play better after that moment,” he said. “Of course, I need to improve for the semis a lot, but I’m happy with my match and with the result.” Del Potro has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks over since he emerged in 2006 from the tennis centre of Tandil, which also produced Mariano Zabaleta and Juan Monaco.
He was the youngest player in the year-end top 200 in 2005, the youngest in the top 100 in 2006, the youngest in the top 50 in 2007 and the youngest in the top 10 in 2008. This year, he broke into the top five in April and was ranked there for three months before slipping out to his current sixth ranking. Del Potro enjoyed a good summer buildup to Flushing Meadows, winning in Washington and reaching the final in the Montreal Masters before running out of steam in the final against Andy Murray.
