Del Potro slogs into semis, Collins stuns her idol Venus
MIAMI: Juan Martin del Potro remained on course for a rare Sunshine Double when he outlasted Milos Raonic 5-7, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-3) in a marathon quarter-final at the Miami Masters.
Del Potro, who claimed the Indian Wells title earlier this month, fed off the energy of a raucous crowd that was firmly behind the Argentine, wearing down the 20th-seeded Canadian in a match lasting almost three hours on Wednesday.
The clock had just struck midnight on an unusually cool evening when fifth seed Del Potro finally dispatched Raonic.
The Canadian was defeated despite not facing a single break point in the first two sets, before the contest took a bizarre twist at the start of the decider when both players were broken twice in a row.
Order was soon restored as both men held for the next eight games, sending the contest to a deciding tiebreak, in which Raonic never recovered after double-faulting to fall 2-0 down.
The result continued Del Potro’s hot streak, after he won in California 10 days ago, beating Roger Federer in a compelling three-set final to claim a maiden Masters 1000 title.
The 2009 US Open champion is back to playing some of his best tennis in years after battling serious left wrist injuries that required three surgeries and threatened to curtail his career.
He advances to face another big server, American John Isner, who overwhelmed South Korean Chung Hye-on 6-1, 6-4.
In the women’s section, qualifier Danielle Collins overpowered her childhood idol Venus Williams 6-2, 6-3 in a stunning quarter-final upset.
Collins, belying her 93rd ranking, pounded winner after winner to beat fellow American Williams at her own game and set up a semi-final against French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
Latvian Ostapenko overpowered Ukrainian fourth seed Elina Svitolina in two tiebreaks to win 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) in an afternoon match to reach the Miami semis for the first time.
The other semi will pit American 13th seed Sloane Stephens against unseeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. — Reuters