Del Potro defeats Federer
Juan Martin del Potro got the better of Roger Federer again, in a way that no player had managed in a decade.
Using his hard serve and booming forehand, del Potro earned the last spot in the semifinals of the ATP finals Saturday by overcoming the already-qualified Federer 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3 in their last round-robin match. Del Potro will face Novak Djokovic in the semifinals Sunday, before Federer takes on Andy Murray.
It was Federer’s second straight loss to del Potro, who also beat him in the final of the Swiss star’s hometown tournament in Basel last month. It’s the first time a player has beaten Federer in two straight indoor tournaments since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002. Hockey: Montreal Canadiens forward Blake Geoffrion remains in a hospital after taking a hit Friday night while playing for the team’s American Hockey League affiliate. The NHL club issued a statement saying the 24-yearold underwent surgery for treatment of a depressed skull fracture and is expected to make a full recovery.
Former Sharks forward Devin Setoguchi scored twice as the Ontario Reign beat the San Francisco Bulls 7-0 at the Cow Palace.
The U.S. women’s team relied on its special teams to win a second straight gold medal at the Four Nations Cup in Finland, defeating Canada 3-0. Boxing: Wladimir Klitschko retained his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles, unanimously outpointing Poland’s Mariusz Wach in Hamburg, Germany. The judges scored it 120-107, 120-107 and 119-109 for Klitschko, who improved to 59-3 (51 knockouts), while Wach dropped to 27-1 (15 KOs). Skiing: Olympic champion Maria HoeflRiesch of Germany overcame a nagging hip injury, putting down a blazing second run to overtake local favorite Tanja Poutiainen of Finland and win the first World Cup slalom of the season in Levi, Finland. Hoefl-Riesch trailed Poutiainen after the first run, but had the fastest time in the second for a total time of 1 minute, 55.58 seconds. American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin was third. Soccer: Manchester United scored three unanswered goals for a 3-2 win at Aston Villa, and Arsenal squandered a two-goal lead in a 3-3 draw against Fulham in the English Premier League. Javier Hernandez scored twice, and Ron Vlaar’s own goal completed the turnaround. which put United four points clear of Chelsea in the standings. At Arsenal, Mikel Arteta had a penalty saved in stoppage time. Figure skating: Two clean quads, an air of understated power and flowing moves brought Canadian Patrick Chan the gold medal at the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow. Kiira Korpi of Finland overcame jet lag to win the women’s gold, edging Americans Gracie Gold and Agnes Zawadzki.