del Potro Inches Closer to Swiss Indoors Finals and Qualifies for ATP World Tour Finals
Juan Martin del Potro defeated South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 to advance to the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors Basel. del Potro’s trip to the semis comes just one day after qualifying for the 2012 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at The O2 in London in November. Following Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal from the season-ending tournament due to injury, del Potro became the sixth singles player to qualify, joining Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych at The O2.
"He had the chance to win the match in the second set, but I held him back in the tie-break," said del Potro. "In the end, I played much better. I broke his serve early in the third set and that gave me the confidence to play my game until the last point. That was the key to the match."
del Potro upped his 2012 win-loss record to 60-14 and is currently on an eight-match win streak. He advances to face Richard Gasquet, who defeated Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-2, 7-6(5). The 26-year-old Gasquet has a 42-20 match record this season, highlighted by winning the Thailand Open title last month in Bangkok.
“For me it’s a gift for my effort during the year,” said del Potro after qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. “Being in that tournament means a lot. It’s only eight players fighting for one tournament. It’s the best eight players of the year, so it’s very important to me. I’m so glad to be there once again. I will be fighting against the big names in London and maybe I’ll have a chance to make another final.”
