Del Potro and Tsonga ready for semis in Vienna

Written by: Global Chick on 28th October 2011

Del Potro and Tsonga ready for semis in Vienna

Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina returns to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their World Group Davis Cup semi finals tennis match in Belgrade, Serbia, 18 September 2011. EPA/KOCA SULEJMANOVIC |

Former World No. 4 Juan Martin Del Potro breezed into the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna on Friday with a win over German qualifier Tommy Haas 6-2 6-4.

Del Potro is fast climbing back up the rankings after having had surgery in 2010 on his wrist. He is the holder of titles in Delray Beach and Estoril already this year. The World No. 15 is still in the running to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London so every point in the next couple of weeks will matter. But the tall Argentinian is taking one day at the time, “It’s a nice goal to play the World Tour Finals in London, but I am still a long way away. It is going to be very tough but if I win all the tournaments to Paris it is possible. I don’t feel pressure about the finals.”

Kevin Anderson will be Del Potro’s semi-final opponent on Saturday in Vienna. The South African downed Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-3 6-3. Melzer is the Vienna Champion in both 2009 and 2010. The number six seeded Anderson who possesses a very big serve only lost 6 eight points on serve during the one hour encounter against Melzer.

The semi-final of the top half of the draw will be played between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Daniel Brands. The top seed had a tough match against Belgium’s Xavier Malisse but

came through after two hours winning 4-6 7-6 (4) 6-4. Tsonga is also a contender for the end of year event in London. Currently in the eight spot he will add some valuable points by lifting the trophy this week. There are still three spots remaining to be filled for London.

German qualifier Daniel Brands is having his best week ever as a professional tennis player. Brands beat fellow qualifier Belgian Steve Darcis in the quarterfinals on Friday 6-3 6-4.

The Bryan Brothers are cruising through the draw this week. Yesterday they had a win over Oliver Marach and David Marrero 6-3 7-6 (2). The World No. 1 team will now face Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland in the semi-finals.

The Poles currently ranked number eight on the YTD rankings beat Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi who are the number seven in a tough three set match. Every point matters for these two teams in the race for London.

SCHEDULE – SATURDAY, 29 OCTOBER, 2011  CENTRE COURT start 1:00 pm

[6] K Anderson (RSA) vs [2] J Del Potro (ARG)

[1] J Tsonga (FRA) vs [Q] D Brands (GER)

Not Before 4:00 PM

J Del Potro (ARG) / R Stepanek (CZE) vs [2] M Mirnyi (BLR) / D Nestor (CAN)

[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs [4] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL)

Topics: Atp, Del Potro, Erste Bank Open, Tsonga