Nadal through to semi-final
Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:22
The Spaniard took one hour 49 minutes to defeat del Potro as he maintained his record of not dropping a set against the Argentinian.
Nadal, who won at Indian Wells in 2007, will next meet Andy Roddick in the last four after the American defeated Novak Djokovic earlier in the day.
Nadal came into the match on the back of a lengthy battle with David Nalbandian on Wednesday where he eventually came out on top with a 3-6 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 win. He faced less of a challenge today as he broke serve in the third game of the opening set before closing out the remaining games to win 6-2.
Nadal started the second set as he had finished the first and broke serve in the second game and though del Potro battled back to take the next game before having advantage in the fourth, Nadal came through and then won the next three games for a 5-1 lead. Del Potro denied Nadal the chance to serve out the match in the eighth game but that simply delayed the inevitable as the Spaniard closed out the victory.
Roddick, meanwhile, was in fine form as he comfortable despatched of Djokovic 6-3 6-3.
The big-serving American has been a man reborn this year, winning the title in Memphis and beating Djokovic on his way to the semi-finals of the Australian Open. The world number three retired on that occasion suffering from the effects of the Melbourne heat but all the heat was coming from Roddick’s racquet today.
The seventh seed broke in Djokovic’s opening service game then again to secure the first set. Djokovic had a chance at the start of the second set but Roddick kept his cool and it was the below-par Serbian who cracked first, Roddick rattling off four games in a row to seal victory.
In the women’s event, defending champion Ana Ivanovic had little difficulty defeating Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-3 to set-up a final meeting with the in-form Vera Zvonereva. The 21-year-old Serb, dominated her teenage opponent to secure the win in one hour 15 minutes.
Zvonareva booked her place in the final with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Victoria Azarenka. Russian fourth seed Zvonareva has established herself as one of the top players in the game this season and is chasing her second title after winning in Pattaya City last month.
Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here
