Tag Archives: Grega Zemlja

del Potro Claims Erste Bank Open Title…

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It’s a perfect dozen for Juan Martin del Potro…

The 24-year-old Argentine professional tenista , currently ranked No. 8 in the world, won his 12th career title on Sunday, beating qualifier Grega Zemlja of Slovenia 7-5, 6-3 at the Erste Bank Open.

Juan Martin del Potro

It’s only the second indoor title for “Delpo,” who earned the bronze medal in men’s singles at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

del Potro, the top-seed at the Austrian event, was playing his first tournament since returning from a right wrist injury that sidelined him for more than a month.

“It’s been a fantastic week,” said del Potro. “Coming back to the tour and being seeded No. 1 put me under pressure. I am so happy now. Winning a tournament means a lot. It’s important to have a good end to the year.”

del Potro improved to 12-5 in finals and is a strong favorite to pick up one of the remaining berths at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.

Juan Martin del Potro

“That was on my mind coming here,” he said. “I am looking even better now … but I still have two big tournaments and must do well in Basel and Paris.”

A losing finalist last year, del Potro survived a shaky start against the 70th-ranked Zemlja, who was the first player from Slovenia to reach a final after upsetting Janko Tipsarevic in the semifinals.

At 2-2 in the opening set, del Potro lost serve for the first time in the tournament. But from 2-4 down, he won 11 of the next 15 games to close out the victory.

“It wasn’t a good start, I was nervous because it was a final,” said del Potro. “In the second set, I broke him early and that gave me confidence to play the final like everyone expected me to do.”

del Potro Advances to the Erste Bank Open Final

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Juan Martin del Potro is thisclose to earning his third tournament title of the season…

The 24-year-old Argentine professional tennis player defeated Gilles Muller of Luxembourg at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria, by a final score of 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).

Juan Martin del Potro

Playing in his fourth final of the year, del Potro – the tournament’s No. 1 seed – will now face qualifier Grega Zemlja in the final.

In his 17th career final, del Potro is looking for his 12th career title and his third title of the year after winning in Marseille and Estoril. He’s never played Zemlja before.

del Potro is playing his first tournament since returning from a wrist injury that sidelined him.

“Being in the final means a lot to me after a month without playing,” said del Potro. “I am getting better match by match. I am improving on my game, on my confidence. I am happy to play my second final in a row here.”

Del Potro said he was especially satisfied with his serve. He won all 38 service games this event, and in Wednesday’s second round, del Potro and Daniel Brands of Germany hit 30 and 32 aces respectively to set an all-time record for most aces in a best-of-three match.

His semifinal consisted mainly of short rallies and featured no breaks of serve. Del Potro converted his fourth match point with his 17th ace.

It’s his return that he needs to improve, said del Potro.

“Once again, I did not take my break point chances in this match so I will work on that,” he said. “I miss a lot of break points. Against this kind of player, one break point is like match point or set point.”