del Potro Repeats US Open Win Over Federer; Both Qualify For Semi-finals
by ATP Staff
26.11.2009

Both Juan Martin del Potro and Roger Federer qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals semi-finals after the Argentine repeated his US Open triumph over the 2009 ATP World Tour Champion in the final Group A singles match Thursday evening at The O2.

Fifth seed del Potro held his nerve to defeat Federer 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, meaning that there was a three-way tie between del Potro, Federer and Andy Murray, who all had a 2-1 match record and a 5-4 sets record. The group was therefore decided on percentage of games won, which saw Federer (44-40) emerge as winner and del Potro (45-43) qualify in second place, pipping Murray (44-43) by just one game.

Murray had earlier won his final round-robin match in three sets against Fernando Verdasco to end the Spaniard’s campaign and was awaiting the result between del Potro and Federer to learn his fate.

"I played good tennis today, similar than New York, a little better in some moments of the match," assessed del Potro. "I served good in important moments. I took my opportunities. That's what I have to do against the best player in the world: take the opportunities and try to play the best tennis.

"My best match [ever] was the final of the US Open. But I feel better again since the US Open, and that's important for the next matches."

"I thought he played a really good match," complimented Federer. "I thought he was able to lift his game after the first two matches, where I just thought he looked a bit weary. So for me it's a tough loss. But, sure, I'm happy I'm through. That it got so close with the other two guys, it's quite incredible. I am, in a way, surprised myself it came down to a couple games.

"I'm excited to be through. But I wished I could have won today. That would have given me extra confidence. Now it's the way it is. But I got a day to rest, which is probably a little advantage."

It is the seventh time in eight appearances at the season finale that Federer has progressed to the semi-finals. The only blemish on the Swiss’ otherwise perfect record came in Shanghai last year, when Murray defeated him in three close sets to end his campaign in the round-robin stage.

The 28-year-old Federer is a four time former winner of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, triumphing in 2003 (d. Agassi) and ’04 (d. Hewitt) when it was staged in Houston, and again in 2006 (d. Blake) and ’07 (d. Ferrer) at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center in Shanghai. He also finished runner-up in an epic five-set finale in Shanghai in 2005, squandering a two-set lead against David Nalbandian.

Del Potro, 21, made his debut at the season finale in Shanghai last year and failed to advance past the round-robin stage, compiling a 1-2 mark.

It could have been a very different outcome in Group A, had del Potro claimed the second-set tie-break in which he led 5-4 with two serves to come for a straight-sets victory – which would have seen him and Murray go through at the expense of Federer.

The Tandil native, who battled to victory over Federer in an epic US Open final, showed form reminiscent of that which won him his first major as he blitzed Federer in the first set. The tallest Grand Slam winner ever, at 6’6’’, del Potro served strongly and attacked well with precision at the net as he broke the Federer serve in the first and fifth games to assume a one-set lead.

Del Potro very nearly went ahead in the first game of the second set, with Federer escaping by the skin of his teeth as his forehand volley clipped the top of the net and trickled over del Potro’s side to save break point. The Argentine looked set to not rue that missed opportunity, though, as he opened up a 5-4 lead in the eventual tie-break when Federer netted a regulation forehand volley. However, nerves took hold of del Potro and two unforced errors later it was Federer who held set point, which he converted exquisitely with a drop shot to draw del Potro in before placing a winning volley past the Argentine.

With calculators working furiously as each game ticked by in the final set, changing the scenarios by the minute, Federer looked set to take control as he worked up a 15/40 lead in del Potro’s service game at 3-3. The Basel native was unable to convert either opportunity though and immediately paid the price as his serve was broken to 15 and del Potro secured the victory with his 11th ace of the two-hour, six-minute encounter.

"Obviously the focus was completely on my own qualification," reflected Federer. "I knew I wasn't looking very good at 6-2, 4-4 let's say. Still trying to find my game and everything. It reminded me a lot like the first couple matches I played in the round robin. I just started slow. Never really found my game. Also had a tough start to the breaker. Just tried to hang in there. He served a great serve at 5-4, then missed that forehand. I knew I couldn't lose in two sets because I knew that was going to knock me out. That's why I was very excited having won the second set.

"It was disappointing to lose at the end against Juan Martin, who I already lost against at the US Open. I had chances at 3-3. Had a couple of break points. Had him on the down the line backhand and stuff, so it was unfortunate."

Del Potro came into the season finale struggling with an abdominal injury that forced him to retire in the second round of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, presented by Rolex and the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Masters, but this week has rediscovered the form that took him to three hard-court tour-level titles earlier in the season. In addition to his US Open triumph, the right-hander defeated Sam Querrey to claim the Heineken Open title in Auckland and beat Andy Roddick to prevail at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington.

The 28-year-old Federer regained the crown of ATP World Tour Champion earlier in the week on the strength of a stellar season that has seen him reach the final of all four majors. The Swiss opened the year with a runner-up finish to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open before completing the career Grand Slam at Roland Garros with victory over Robin Soderling. He then edged Andy Roddick in a marathon Wimbledon final to clinch a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam singles title.

9:48 AM
sadikin

-

impulse

is the area under the F-t graph -insert geek smile-

today, i found out that impulse buys are the most awesome type of retail therapy. okay, perhaps that is quite duh, but i guess that's new for me cos i don't really do impulse buys. BUT, when Club Marc decides to throw in an any-3-items-for-49bucks offer, it's just too good to resist. plus, it's major wallet-friendly. xD heh

so, it was definitely a productive shopping trip today. or yesterday for that matter. with Dean and Angie dearest, the i-want-to-watch-The-Informant!-girl-turned-fashion-advisor-for-the-day. cos yes, sadly, our planned The Informant! movie outing was cancelled due to the unfavourable showtimes. and lack of planning actually, haha!

okay, i'm very tired (the feet are aching omg) and lazy so i'll spare you the details (and myself the trouble of typing it all out). (:

oh yes, SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL ADHA to my fellow brothers/sisters in Islam. and to the rest, enjoy the public holiday! =D total field day stuffing myself tmr la, for sure.



and finally, a teeny bit of entertainment news - i'm certain Susan Boyle has never dreamed a dream quite like this. i'm surprised actually, but i guess her marketing people are just really kickass at their job.

NIGHTS WORLD. (:

12:43 AM
sadikin

- Wednesday, November 25, 2009

bibimbap!

it just looks so gooooood right!

mix it all up and you're ready to eat! (:

omg, i absolutely love Zingdo's bibim bap chicken bulgogi!!! the best thing is that it is in itself a balanced meal, with veggies, meat, and staple! so it's a total healthy YUMZ. =D

anyway, today was a good shopping day! (: although we spent the most part of the afternoon tending to Mathan's needs, heh. that bitch took like forever to get his long-sleeved and shoes omg. so much so that i decided to have a pretend talkshow with Dean and Yao Guang while lounging on the totally comfy sofas at the Tangs men's shoes department, a la Oprah Winfrey, haha! xD well, at the very least, we were kept entertained.

anyway, due to the awesome combined productivity of Dean and i, we finally found our ideal blazer (that's mine) and vest (that's his) at a shop in Far East Plaza after the other two took their leave in the evening. btw, the shop has really good clothes with good make at affordable prices! take my word for it, seriously. they pretty much bring in the clothes themselves from suppliers from God-knows-where, so it should be exclusive (or so i choose to believe, haha). in any case, it was then that i had an inspiration and everything just fell into place. now, i am absolutely certain of my get-up for the evening, so prom-shopping should get more fruitful! YAY. which is of course a most wonderful thing so that the poor feet don't ache too much.

now that there's no more stress about my prom get-up, i just need to hope that no other soul got the same inspiration as me. which would spell fashion boo-hoo. else, there's always the option of being mummified in a hotel bedsheet - a look which i'm not confident of pulling off just yet. xD

alright, story of my life for the day is pretty much done. so nights y'all! (:



oh, and if you haven't heard - the great Roger Federer is still King! =D heh

11:36 AM
sadikin

- Tuesday, November 24, 2009

the day of reckoning

... is not here just yet; in fact, it's a full five days away. the day of my last GCE-A Level paper, if you're wondering. which pretty much marks the conclusion of my 12 years of formal education, which kinda IS a big deal. but well, since the bulk of it is over, we can certainly sneak in a little break.

(btw, i'm not talking about the papers at all. okay, at least not on my blog. to steal a quote from the wise Mary, "jangan pandang belakang" i.e. don't look back.)

well, a futile prom shopping trip around orchard sums up the day, basically. and of course, aching feet from four hours of just walking and standing and deliberating while standing. saw some awesome clothes, but alas, their price tags are just too awesome as well. prom shopping on a budget is seriously one hell of a task la omg. but i shall persevere! (: not much of a choice really, unless i plan on being underdressed, which is against my principles. xD

oh yes. we bumped into our dearest Physics tutor (on the day of Physics Paper 3, no less!) right outside the posh ION Orchard toilets, who was visibly surprised to see us as well. probably she expected us to be home studying for the Paper 1 or sth. but she was really nice so it's all good.

ended off the day with 2012. which was kinda epic, but had a number of corny Hollywood moments la, as usual. but it was better than i had expected, so that's a good thing.



in other news, mainly entertainment-related - what's up with Taylor Swift sweeping the CMAs and AMAs trophies omg! to put things into perspective, let it be clear that i do think she's one talented young lady. just that there's a few categories whereby there were other more deserving nominees, in my humble opinion. and of course, i do not fault her for it, but it's more of the voters (excuse me CMA members!). seriously, does she have the best country vocals? if you actually think so, you probably oughta have your ears checked.

next - Adam Lambert, what the hell was up with the provocative rubbish, including the forced you-know-what-job and the liplock in your AMAs performance. first this, then this. mixed signals much, honestly. either that, or he was just trying to get on the headlines. if so, well, he totally got what he wanted. in any case, his actions have totally fuelled my dislike for him. (i left the movie theatre as soon as Time for Miracles was playing, heh!)



okay, i think i've done up quite a lengthy update. before i ramble on and on and on and on, i think it's time for catch-up tv, starting with GLEE! =D and for the first time, i'm thankful that there's no new episodes airing this week, heh.

OH YES, just one more - FEDERER & VERDASCO for the ATP Tours Finals! (: haha

9:36 PM
sadikin