Del Potro stuns Murray, to face Djokovic in final
Indian Wells (USA), March 16: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic advanced to the BNP Paribas Open semifinals on Friday with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over JoWilfried Tsonga in 54 minutes.
Juan Martin del Potro had to go the distance to upset No. 3 seed Andy Murray 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1 for the first time in five tries on hard courts in the other men’s quarterfinal.
Del Potro will play Djokovic in Saturday’s semifinals. The Argentine has lost to Djokovic eight times in 10 meetings.
No. 8-seeded Caroline Wozniacki outlasted fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a 2hour semifinal that included 14 service breaks, seven of them in the final set.
Wozniacki, the 2011 Indian Wells champion, will play Maria Sharapova, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over No. 13 Maria Kirilenko, in Sunday’s final.
Sharapova (27) and Wozniacki (20) are third and fourth among active players for most titles won, trailing only Serena (47) and Venus Williams (44).
Djokovic extended his winning streak to 22 matches dating to Oct. 31, when he last lost to American Sam Querrey in Paris. The Serb has a 17-0 record this year and captured the Australian Open.
Against Del Potro, Murray double-faulted for the eighth time to end the 2-hour match, missing with his second serve down the middle to get broken for the third time in the set and fifth time in the match.
The Scot was playing his first tournament since losing the Australian Open final to Djokovic in late January.
“It was a tough match,” Murray said. — AP