Del Potro Sweeps Into Beijing Semi-finals
Juan Martin del Potro, boosted with the knowledge that he has already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, continued his pursuit of a 22nd tour-level crown on Friday by winning through to the China Open semi-finals. The top-seeded Argentine grew in confidence as he overcame Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-0 in 62 minutes for a place in his eighth semi-final of the year.
“I think I played well,” said Del Potro. “I have been training hard to play at this level. Today, everything worked good, starting from my serve, from my forehands and backhands. That is the game that I need to go far in this tournament… Filip played good at the start of the match, but I was playing solid game from the baseline [and] I held all my service games.”
Del Potro lost four of his service points in the first set, which includes service breaks in the third and ninth games. He saved three break points in the opening game of the second set. Krajinovic is now 1-7 lifetime against Top 10 opponents in the ATP Rankings.
The World No. 4, who has lifted trophies at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (d. Anderson) and the BNP Paribas Open (d. Federer) this season, will next challenge in-form fourth-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini on Saturday. The pair is 1-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with Fognini beating Del Potro in the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex final in Los Cabos in August.
Looking ahead to playing Fognini, Del Potro admitted, “It's going to be a difficult one. Fabio beat me in the Mexico final this year. He's playing very well already. He's a smart player also. It's going to be an interesting match to play. Fabio has a lot of chances to win that match, too. I have to play my best, for sure.”