Del Potro stays in race to London with Vienna win

Updated October 22, 2012 07:32:14

Juan Martin del Potro spoiled the day for Slovenian tennis but kept his own hopes of qualifying for the ATP year-end finals alive with a 7-5, 6-3 defeat of qualifier Grega Zemlja to win the Austrian Open.

The Argentine, who had missed a month of play after the Davis Cup due to a right wrist injury, prevented Zamlja from becoming the first Slovenian to win an ATP title.

Del Potro stands provisional seventh in the points race for one of three remaining positions in the ATP World Tour Finals starting on November 5 in London. He will continue his quest next week in Basle as second seed behind Roger Federer at the Swiss Indoors.

The South American claimed his title in Vienna on his third try after losing the 2011 final. He was forced to quit before his first match during his debut in 2008 and now stands 8-1 in the Austrian capital.

Zemlja had already set several personal bests during his unexpected run this week, beating Tommy Haas for a first top 20 win, reaching the final over Janko Tipsarevic for a first top 10 victory and raising his level consistently throughout the best week of his career.

Del Potro, the top seed, spent more than an hour winning the first set against the number 70 playing in the first final of his career and finished the job on his first match point after one hour 41 minutes.

Del Potro added Vienna to trophies claimed this season in Marseille and Estoril.

He now owns 12 titles from 17 finals.

"He played an unbelievable match and I really had to play well to beat him, I served well and managed, it feels good right now," the winner said of his European challenger.

"It feels good to finally win this title.

"It took a really really tough match against a player who played really well.

"This is a great win after the wrist recovery, I'm getting better match by match. I'm making improvements in my game and my confidence is growing," warned Del Potro.

The South American, who rained down 10 aces, went down a break of serve in the opening set as Zemlja took a 4-2 lead. But that was quickly brought under control in the eighth game for 4-4 as Del Potro began taking command.

Prior to Vienna, the 26-year-old Zemlja, who trains in Austria, had never reached even a quarter-final at ATP level.

"I made history two or three times this week," joked the surprise finalist.

"I'm the guy for that. But this week was really something special. Even if I lost I'm pretty satisfied."

Zemlja almost did not play this tournament.

"It was an interesting and difficult situation for me before the tournament," said the 26-year-old. "I was preparing last week for Vienna and found out I was the first on the waiting list to get into the main draw in Stockholm.

"I was deciding whether to go to Stockholm or play in the qualification here. I said I'd rather play here.

"I had a good feeling. it was a pretty good decision and I don't regret it."

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, austria

First posted October 22, 2012 07:28:01

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Stosur stays alive in Tokyo

Updated September 26, 2012 10:44:34

World number nine Samantha Stosur advanced to the third round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

The eighth-seeded Stosur recovered from losing the first set to account for Italy's Francesca Schiavone 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Stosur, who enjoyed a bye in the first round, will meet Slovakian 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova, who beat Zheng Jie of China 6-0, 6-3.

Tags: sport, tennis, japan

First posted September 26, 2012 10:44:34

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Argentina stays alive in Davis Cup final

Updated December 04, 2011 07:42:01

Argentina kept its Davis Cup final hopes alive on Sunday morning when David Nalbandian and Eduardo Schwank defeated Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The result means the final will be decided on day three when Rafael Nadal tackles Juan Martin del Potro before David Ferrer is scheduled to meet Juan Monaco in the last reverse singles.

Nalbandian and Schwank were playing together for the first time but they overwhelmed the Spanish pair who have now lost 11 of their 12 matches in the competition.

Nadal and Ferrer had won Friday's opening singles as they aim for a fifth Davis Cup title and history remains on their side - the last team to recover from a 2-0 deficit in the final was Australia in 1939.

Argentina is bidding for a first Davis Cup title having lost both its previous finals - against Spain in 2008 and Russia in 2006.

"We played great. We knew it was a very important match and we played unbelievable from the start to the end," said Nalbandian, who could replace Monaco in Sunday's singles.

"The result shows how well we played. They didn't break us and we played well at the net. It'll still be very difficult on Sunday. We knew the doubles would be crucial so we will see what happens on Sunday. But we are still alive."

Six-time French Open champion Nadal will again hold the key in the reverse singles.

His easy 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 win over close friend Monaco on Friday was his 19th win in 20 singles rubbers for Spain.

His only loss came to Czech Jiri Novak on his debut - as a 17-year-old - in February 2004. He is 15-0 in clay-court rubbers.

Nadal will take a 6-3 career lead into his clash with former US Open winner Del Potro, a record which includes the pair's only previous meeting on clay, a straight sets win in the first round at Roland Garros in 2007.

The world number two also boasts a formidable record having won 66 of 67 best-of-five-sets match on clay, with his sole defeat coming at the hands of Robin Soderling at Roland Garros in 2009.

Del Potro will go into Sunday having played for almost five hours on Friday when he lost 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to Ferrer.

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, spain, argentina

First posted December 04, 2011 07:35:32

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