Match report

Juan Martin Del Potro © Tennistalk.com
US Open
Quarter final
9/3/08 1 2 3 4 Tot
ar  Juan Martin Del Potro 6 2 6 1 6 5 1
gb  Andy Murray 7 7 7 7 4 7 3
Andy Murray © Tennistalk.com

  • Murray battles past Del Potro for his first Slam semifinal

    9/4/08 3:57 AM | Cheryl Murray
    The tennis world was waiting to see if Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro would continue their well publicized feud that began in Rome earlier this year.

    Much has been made of the ill feelings between Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro after they traded words at the Roma Masters event. None of that was evident in Wednesday’s quarterfinal match between the two men. Murray kicked off the match with an immediate break of the Del Potro serve. The Scotsman immediately employed the tactic of absorbing pace from Del Potro. He sliced and lobbed his way to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Somewhere along the way, Murray lost the plot a bit and began hitting from the baseline with the Argentine. The result was a break back at 2-4. Murray played the more steady tie break, and secured the set at 7-2 in the breaker.

    Del Potro called for the trainer between the first and second sets to have some attention given to his knee and called again at 2-1. Despite his physical ailments, Del Potro played a solid set until 5-5, where he netted a backhand to give Murray the break and the opportunity to serve out the set. Murray answered by being broken at love and forcing another tiebreak. The Scot played another strong breaker, this time take the set 7-1 in the tiebreak.

    Murray would once again jump out to a break lead, this time early in the third set. But in what seemed to be a formula for the match, gave the break directly back to Del Potro. Another visit from the trainer and some more brilliant tennis from Del Potro secured another break from Murray. The Argentine closed the third set out at 6-4.

    Del Potro took his own turn at breaking early in the fourth, extending his run from the third set. Murray remained calm, however and got the break back. In between points, Del Potro began showing signs of fatigue and Murray was finally able to take advantage when the Argentine was attempting to send the fourth set to a tiebreak at 5-6. Del Potro saved the first match point at 15-40, but Murray got the second.

    The two men had a nice moment at the net after the match, where they appeared to congratulate each other, seemingly putting their animosity behind them. Murray will play his first Grand Slam semifinal against the winner of the Rafael Nadal - Mardy Fish match.

    Murray went to the court knowing he faced a fight against Juan Martin Del Potro.


    Murray says he was happy to come thorugh a winner in long match.

    Murray's ambitions in New York don't stop at the semifinal stage

  • Thumbs up

    Both men fought well and gave the audience a lot to cheer about.

  • Thumbs down

    Patchy tactics from Murray and tired legs from Del Potro gave this match a sloppy feel at times.

Tell a friend »

Other articles related to the tournament

Click here fore more articles

Comments


Write comment

You have to be logged in to comment. If you do not have an account, click here to register. It only takes a minute and you'll be redirected back to this page.
Username:

Password:

Expekt.com offers you the widest range and best odds on all tennis matches. Click here to bet and check all the latest tennis odds from expekt.com

Did you know that... Pete Sampras has been ranked number 1 during the longest period of time, 286 weeks.

Register for newsletter:

Poll

The ATP season is
Too long
Fine as it is
Too short

Poll archive

Articles - Latest commented

Blog - Latest commented

Tell a friend

Your name:

Friend's name:

Friend's email:

Other tennis links

Related articles

ar  Juan Martin Del Potro gb  Andy Murray
US Open  US Open