Del Potro, Raonic advance to semifinals
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Juan Martin del Potro defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open for the first time in five years.
Del Potro next plays No. 32 Milos Raonic of Canada, who got by 18th-seeded American Sam Querrey 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 on Friday.
The other semifinal on Saturday is between topranked Roger Federer and Borna Coric of Croatia.
Del Potro has never lost to Kohlschreiber in six meetings on hard courts. The Argentine last reached the final at Indian Wells in 2013, when he lost to Rafael Nadal.
In the women’s semifinals Friday night, Venus Williams was to meet Daria Kasatkina of Russia and top-ranked Simona Halep of Romania faced Naomi Osaka of Japan.
Late Thursday
Roger Federer and Venus Williams won in straight sets on Thursday, extending the 36-year-old Swiss superstar’s bid for a record sixth title in the desert and the 37-year-old American’s attempt to win her first.
Federer defeated Chung Hyeon 7-5, 6-1 and equal his career-best start of 16-0 from 2006.
Williams beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-2 in the event where she first broke out as a 16-year-old qualifier in 1997.
Federer won the Australian Open in January and has regained the No. 1 ranking. Williams returned to the top 10 last year after being runner-up at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
“I’m just happy that I’m able to keep up a good level. Same for Venus,” Federer said. “Really happy for her that she’s really consistently easily making all these semis and finals and winning tournaments.”
With Rod Laver and Pete Sampras looking on, Federer fired 12 aces and was broken just once.
Federer and Chung last played in the Australian Open semifinals, when the South Korean was forced to retire trailing 6-1, 5-2 because of blisters on his left foot. Federer went on to win the title and at 36 is the No. 1 player again.
Federer saved a handful of break points in the first game of the second set and then broke Chung twice, including on a double fault to take a 5-1 lead.
“I had a plan in place, but then you adjust to it constantly,” Federer said. “Maybe it’s the wind, maybe it’s the opponent, because you just don’t know his patterns yet. I like it when it’s the unknown, even though it can be a bit scary.”
Serving for the match, Federer’s errant backhand spoiled his first match point. His forehand volley went wide, giving Chung a break chance. But Chung’s forehand error got Federer to deuce and he closed out his second match point with an ace that Chung unsuccessfully challenged the call on.
Next up for Federer is Borna Coric of Croatia, who upset No. 7 seed Kevin Anderson 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) for his first win in four tries against the South African.
Williams has never reached the final of the desert tournament and to do she’ll have to get by 20-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, who has yet to drop a set in four matches at Indian Wells.
At 37, Williams is the oldest player in the draw. She made the quarterfinals in her tournament debut in 1997 and notched her first win over a top-10 player before losing to eventual champion Lindsay Davenport.
Williams took 71 minutes to put away Suarez Navarro for the fourth straight time on Thursday. Playing in swirling winds, Suarez Navarro committed 29 unforced errors to 17 for Williams.
“I don’t care what’s happening on court, I just try to execute,” Williams said.