Federico Delbonis is preparing for one of the biggest matches of his professional career….
The 22-year-old Argentine tennis player, a qualifier at the German Tennis Championships in Hamburg, defeated Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 6-4 to earn a spot in the semifinals of a tournament for only the second time in his career.
Delbonis, currently ranked No. 114 in the world, will next play the tournament’s top seed Roger Federer, who is ranked No. 5 in the world.
But reaching the semi-finals wasn’t exactly a breeze…
Delbonis had to stave off a pair of match points in the second set. He failed to serve out the match at 5-3; and then wasted two match points on Verdasco’s serve before the Spaniard double-faulted on the third.
Delbonis had previously reached his first ATP World semifinal at Stuttgart in 2011, losing to Juan Carlos Ferrero 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.