There is no doubt that Juan Martin del Potro will savour this victory for a long time. In the storied history of Argentine tennis, only two players have cemented themselves in the '400 Wins Club': Guillermo Vilas and now Del Potro. The Tandil native etched his name in the record books with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3 victory over Milos Raonic on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open. Vilas leads all players from Argentina with 929 victories, but the legend now has some company in the exclusive club. After battling from a set down for a pair of deciding-set victories in the fourth round (d. Mayer) and quarter-finals (d. Kohlschreiber), Del Potro was in no mood for a marathon semi-final. The...
Juan Martin del Potro has done a bit of everything the past two weeks in Indian Wells. He's dominated in straight sets, imposing his lethal game on his opponents. The 2013 finalist has also had to fight, coming back from a set down in his fourth-round match against fellow Argentine Leonardo Mayer. Del Potro's quarter-final was more like the latter, but that was OK with the Argentine, who's been up for any task of late. The sixth seed, who's chasing his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, won his ninth consecutive match on Friday afternoon, prevailing against German Philipp Kohlschreiber 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and eight minutes. “It wasn't an easy match as everybody saw. But I...
Milos Raonic might not feel as if he's playing 100 per cent like his old self, but, early into his comeback season, the Canadian has already returned to familiar territory on the ATP World Tour. The 2016 Indian Wells finalist (l. to Djokovic) reached his third BNP Paribas Open semi-final (2015) on Friday, beating Sam Querrey of the U.S. for the third consecutive time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. The 6'5” right-hander is into his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final in 17 months (2016 Paris). Raonic's improved tennis has no doubt carried him during the past week but he said the conditions and the vibe around the Indian Wells Tennis Garden have also helped...
Pablo Cuevas and Horacio Zeballos nullified the serving threat of Gilles Muller and Sam Querrey for a 6-4, 6-4 win in 73 minutes on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open. The Uruguayan-Argentinean duo will next face two-time former champions and seventh seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in the semi-finals. Cuevas has won two Masters 1000 doubles titles at the 2015 Internazionali BNL d’Italia (w/Marrero) and last year’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (w/Bopanna). Elsewhere, Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic moved one step away from reaching their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final. The in-form third seeds saved all six break points they faced to knock out Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez 6-4, 6-4 in 74 minutes. The Austrian-Croatian team broke...
Twenty-four year-old Roger Federer has nothing on 36-year-old Roger Federer. The No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings matched his best start on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open, improving to 16-0 in 2018 with a 7-5, 6-1 victory against Hyeon Chung of South Korea. The last time Federer started with such an unbeaten streak was 12 years ago in 2006. “It's a great start. Hopefully I can do one more and beat my best streak on Saturday,” Federer said. Federer's Undefeated Starts Year Record 2018 16 2006 16 2007 12 2004 11 2005, 2011 10 2002, 2017 8 Watch Full Match Replays It was Federer's second win against the 21-year-old Chung this season, and they had a crowd of...
