Del Potro beats Nadal in Shanghai semi

Argentine sets up title clash with top seed Djokovic.

SHANGHAI:

World number one Rafael Nadal was dumped out of the Shanghai Masters yesterday by inspired Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who blew the Spaniard away with a relentless display of brutal hitting to set up a final against Novak Djokovic.

The giant Del Potro, fresh from winning the Japan Open, went into the semi-final at the Qizhong Tennis Center trailing 8-3 in head-to-heads, but rocked Nadal with a double break in the first set and kept up the pressure to win 6-2, 6-4.

Nadal has enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career, and came into the match with the smart money on yet another final showdown with Djokovic. However, he was given the run-around by the sixth seed, who launched a sustained and blistering all-court attack from the start, achieving the rare feat of out-hitting his illustrious opponent.

Dominating from the baseline on both forehand and backhand sides, Del Potro raced into a 4-0 lead in the first set as Nadal desperately searched for a foothold.

A single break was enough in the second set for the inspired Argentine, who hit a total of 28 winners and 31 unforced errors, landing 80% of first serves. Nadal, by contrast, failed with all six of his break point opportunities.

I played so solid all the time, hitting the ball so hard," said Del Potro. "I saw Rafa playing very far off the baseline, which is good for my game, for my serve, and confidence. That's the way to beat this guy."

And he said he could play even better after serving just five aces against Nadal. "I didn't make too many aces for playing against the number in the world," he added.

"That's what I need tomorrow [today] against Djokovic. I need to win easy points with my serves. Hopefully, my forehands and backhands work like today in the final. I'll be aggressive like today."

A rueful Nadal, who uncharacteristically failed with all six of his break point opportunities, admitted that he was beaten by the better player.

"Very few times I have played against a player with a level like today I played against,” he said. “At the end I played against a player who served 80 percent of first serves, who hit every ball as hard as he can I think, and with no mistakes.”

Djokovic beats Tsonga in straight sets

In the first semi-final, defending champion Novak Djokovic swept aside Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 7-5 yesterday.

The powerful Tsonga came into the semi-final at the Qizhong Tennis Center with a miserable run of eight consecutive defeats against the top seed, but had not dropped a set all week.

However, he landed just 46% of first serves in an ultimately one-sided first set, and despite a better performance in the second he cracked in the 12th game as Djokovic completed a straight-sets win.

"It's important for me to get into another final," said Djokovic. "(My serve) was very controlled, very efficient... I was trying to open up the court and move him around. I know he likes to have targets, he likes to play from the backhand corners so I tried not to let him into that comfort zone."

Tsonga who has admitted this week he is not quite 100% fit after knee problems forced him to miss the US Open, won just 13 of 31 points at the net.

"I didn't serve good enough in the first set to cause him some trouble, but after that I played better and better," he said. "I served better. I was more into it. So for him it was a bit more trouble, but it's still 7-5."

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2013.

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