Juan Martin del Potro notched his 10th win of the season to reach his second ATP World Tour final of 2018 at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, defeating second seed Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2.
The World No. 9 produced an impressive performance throughout the one-hour, 31-minute clash, breaking the German on three occasions to move one win away from his first ATP 500 title since the 2013 Swiss Indoors (d. Federer) and 21st ATP World Tour crown. In his past three matches, Del Potro has beaten four-time Acapulco champion David Ferrer, World No. 6 Dominic Thiem and now World No. 5 Zverev. "It is amazing for me," Del Potro said. "I have been playing good tennis this week, but there is still one more step to go."
The 'Tower of Tandil' will face inaugural New York Open champion Kevin Anderson in Saturday's final. The South African reached his third final of the season after a three-set win over American Jared Donaldson. Del Potro holds a 6-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series record over Anderson, winning 12 of their past 14 sets.
"Hopefully I can play even better than tonight,” Del Potro said. "Anderson is a great player and he is playing so good.”
Despite an undefeated record against Anderson, the latest they have met in a tournament came in the 2011 Vienna semi-finals. The Argentine knows that the South African is in form, and that playing the World No. 8 in a championship match will be tough. "We never played in a final, so it is going to be a big challenge for me,” Del Potro admitted. "But, anything can happen, it is the final and I am just so gracious.”
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Despite eight aces from Zverev in the first set, it was Del Potro who secured the only break of the opener, in emphatic fashion, to establish control. The ASB Classic finalist (l. to Bautista Agut), broke to love in the third game of the match to take a 2-1 lead, and confidently held each of his next four service games to earn a one-set advantage.
With the freedom of a lead, Del Potro found more success on his return in the second set. The 29-year-old increased his aggression on Zverev’s first serve and, again, broke in the third game, before a further break four games later created the opportunity to serve for a place in the championship match. Courtesy of his sixth ace of the match, Del Potro converted his second match point to move into his 31st tour-level final.
Did You Know?
The last time Juan Martin del Potro won back-to-back matches over Top 10 opposition was at the 2017 US Open. Del Potro beat Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer to reach the semi-finals, before falling to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. Nadal advanced to the championship match where he met Del Potro’s final opponent in Acapulco; Kevin Anderson.