Berdych To Meet In Form Del Potro In Semi – Finals

Written by: Staff on 11th May 2012

Berdych To Meet In Form Del Potro In Semi - Finals

epa03215015 Czech tennis player Tomas Berdych, celebrates after defeating Spanish Fernando Verdasco at the end of their Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament quarterfinals match at Caja Magica pavilion in Madrid, Spain, 11 May 2012. EPA/JUAN CARLOS HIDALGO |

(Original Story: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/05/19/Madrid-Friday-Del-Potro-Beats-Dolgopolov-For-SF.aspx)

Sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych will meet No. 10 seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals on Saturday.

Berdych improved to 10-4 lifetime against Rafael Nadal’s conqueror, No. 15 seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain, after a 6-1, 6-2 victory in 67 minutes to reach his second Madrid semi-finals (also 2006 – l. to Gonzalez).

Berdych has yet to be broken in 25 service games this week. He lost just nine of his service points and hit four aces past Verdasco for his 25th match win of the season (25-6 overall). Madrid native Verdasco has a 10-10 mark at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. He also reached the 2009 quarter-finals (l. to Nadal).

Earlier in the day, del Potro maintained his run of form on clay after he defeated No. 16 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine in a 6-3, 6-4 victory in 84 minutes to advance to his fifth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final. He hit 10 aces, won 69 per cent of his service points and converted three of his seven break point opportunities. Brisbane International finalist Dolgopolov drops to 15-10 in 2012.

The 23-year-old Tandil native is now 10-0 on clay this year (22-0 in sets). He improved to a 31-6 match record on the season, which includes two ATP World Tour titles at the Open 13 in Marseille (d. Llodra) and at last week’s Estoril Open (d. Gasquet). The former World No. 4 also finished runner-up at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (l. to Federer).

Topics: 10sballs.com, argentina tennis news, Czech tennis news, Juan Martin Del Potro, Mutua Madrid Open, Spanish tennis news, Tomas Berdych