Gulbis upsets ailing Del Potro

Ernests Gulbis ended Juan Martin del Potro’s winning run when he beat the top seed 6-3 6-4 in a quarter-final upset at the Rotterdam World Tennis on Friday.

Gulbis, the world number 24 from Latvia, will face third seed Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals after the Czech defeated Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz 6-7 (9-11) 6-2 6-4 in a hard-fought victory which took nearly two-and-a-half hours.

In his last five tournaments as the top seed, defending champion Del Potro had won five titles and 23 straight matches.

Wimbledon winner Andy Murray was trying to maintain the honour of seeds as the number two faced former top 10 competitor Marin Cilic of Croatia in the quarter-finals.

German Philipp Kohlschreiber was playing the last surviving Dutchman in Igor Sijsling.

Gulbis, who can be brilliant or less than impressive depending on his mood, preyed upon Del Potro as the Argentine took treatment before the start of the second set on the left wrist which has been posing problems since last month in Australia.

Del Potro came to the match without much ability to hit a penetrating backhand as he plays with medical permission while trying to clear up his wrist problem.

Gulbis will be playing in his first semi-final at the event after advancing in 81 minutes with a dozen aces as he forced Del Potro to save seven of nine break points.

“If you let him play, he will play,” Gulbis said. “I don’t give any timing, I made him play bad. I concentrated on his backhand, we had a lot of long rallies.

“I played well at the right moments.

“I felt in control almost all the match, I was nervous in the last game but a good kind of nervous, I kept on playing well. Those are the kinds of nerves that I can handle.”

Gulbis won his second match out of five against Del Potro, claiming the opening set in 36 minutes with a break in the penultimate game after the Argentine had saved three chances of a break.

Del Potro said he has felt delicate all week but still believes his dodgy wrist is on the mend.

“My doctor is confident and I will keep on playing tournaments as long as the wrist does not get worse,” said the ATP number four. “It’s getting better very slowly but it can be tough to remain optimistic all the time.

“When you are not at 100 per cent you are thinking about your problems instead of your tennis. That’s what happening this week.

“He played a good match and deserved to win. He played a smart strategy against my backhand.”

Del Potro will train next week prior to Dubai, convinced that hard gym work will help his healing process.

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