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2/21/09 5:11 AM | Ricky Dimon
Radek Stepanek, last week's San Jose champion, upsets Juan Martin Del Potro in the Memphis quarterfinals on Saturday. Stepanek is joined in the semis by Lleyton Hewitt.
Lleyton Hewitt d. Christophe Rochus 6-2, 6-3
It was still a good week for Rochus, but he was clearly overmatched in the quarterfinals of an ATP 500 event. Hewitt needed just one hour and 15 minutes to secure a blockbuster semifinal meeting with top seed Andy Roddick. The Aussie, down to 103rd in the world rankings due to injury, dominated the first set with two breaks of serve. He lost a mere five points in four service games--almost all of them in a game in which he had to save one break point. More of the same continued in the second as Hewitt used two more breaks en route to a 5-2 lead. That's when Hewitt's only hiccup of the night occured. He got broken for 5-3, but he broke right back, finishing the proceedings with a forehand passing shot. Hewitt finished six aces and won 80 percent of his first-serve points. The 5'7'' Belgian, meanwhile, provided little resistance. Rochus double-faulted five times, lost well over half of his second-serve points, and won just 57 percent of his first-serve points. Hewitt and Roddick will be squaring off for the 10th time in their illustrious careers, with Hewitt leading the head-to-head series 6-3.
Radek Stepanek d. Juan Martin Del Potro 7-6(7), 6-4
It looks like there's no stopping Stepanek right now. The 30-year-old Czech, won already has two ATP titles in 2009, knocked out Del Potro in straight sets on Friday afternoon. An extremely long first game of the match, with Stepanek serving, set the tone for the opening set. Stepanek eventually held and the two players stayed on serve until Del Potro seized a break midway through the set. A loose service game by the Argentine immediately got his opponent back on serve. Stepanek eventually took a 5-4 lead, and that's when things really got crazy. Del Potro saved three set points at 4-5--with an ace, a service winner, and a serve-forehand combo--and two more set points at 5-6--with another ace and a backhand winner following an intense rally. In the ensuing tiebreaker, Del Potro had his first two set points but squandered them both. The No. 2 seed thought he had the set won on his third chance at 7-6 when a Stepanek groundstroke landed near the baseline, but no out call was made. Stepanek went on to prevail nine points to seven and he never looked back. The No. 4 seed broke a dispirited Del Potro at 1-1 and that was enough, because he did not face a single break point in five service games. Stepanek came back from 0-30 down at 5-4 to finish off the match in two hours and seven minutes (the first set alone lasted one hour and 25 minutes). Next up for the Brisbane and San Jose champion is qualifier Dudi Sela.
Dudi Sela d. Igor Kunitsyn 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Sela came back from a set down to reach his first semifinal of the season, ousting Kunitsyn in three sets. Kunitsyn had a dismal 0-4 match record in 2009 heading into Memphis, but after winning two matches earlier in the week, he came out smoking in the first. The Russian seized the first break of the afternoon for 3-2, but that started a wave of four straight breaks of serve. Kunitsyn finally held for 5-4 and then broke again to finish off the set when Sela shanked a groundstroke way long. Things were complete different the rest of the way, however, as Kunitsyn's game began to break down while Sela could do almost no wrong. Kunitsyn lost set two more than the 5'9'' Israeli won it, and one break was enough for Sela, who saved three break points to level the match. While Kunitsyn continued to struggle in the third, there was really nothing he could do against an in-the-zone Sela. Unforced errors were few and far between for Sela, who crushed groundstrokes with pinpoint precision in securing two service breaks. Such was the qualifier's form from the back of the court that he did not face a single break point in the final set despite putting in a woeful 33 percent of his first serves. Sela needed two hours and three minutes to book a spot in the semis, where he will take on Juan Martin Del Potro.
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Saw the match. JMDP was flat after he lost the 1st set tie breaker and before you know it he was down a break but then he seemed to get it together and the 2nd set was more competitive. Stepanek is looking SHARP. And who would have thought it from Hewitt? Should be a great SF.
tenisbebe , 2/21/09 6:38 AM
ricky- do u know what del po had 2 say 4 himself after the match? cant find interview
kaitepai , 2/21/09 8:28 AM
No, an interview was requested but his coach said he wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.
I went to Stepanek's interview though and he had his comments about his pulling down his shorts were hilarious.
By the way the entire first set of this match was AWESOME.
RickyDimon , 2/21/09 9:14 AM
ur kidding me- thats a good attitude from juan once again. hes gotta get over this immaturity thing. its driving me nuts
who pulling down hus shorts? god hopefully not stephanek pulling down his!
entire first set sounds frustrating for a del potro fan :)
kaitepai , 2/21/09 10:27 AM
Looking forward to Hewitt vs Roddick.
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i was fooooooooooool that i prefered Del Potro !!!!!!!!!!! Have hope on Hewitt now !!!!!!!!!
tomnjerry2 , 2/21/09 5:56 AM