Delray Beach (United States), Rio de Janeiro: Injury-nagged 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro advanced to the ATP Delray Beach Open semi-finals on Friday by defeating French fifth seed Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-3.
In his comeback event after sitting out for nearly a year, the 27-year-old Argentine wildcard entrant earned a Saturday berth against 61st-ranked Sam Querrey, who rallied to dispatch fellow American Tim Smyczek 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
Del Potro, ranked 1,042nd in the world after missing most of the 2014 and 2015 seasons with a left wrist injury, underwent surgery last June and had not played an ATP match since last March until this week.
The South American standout served well and was effective with his two-handed backhand, attacking 30th-ranked Chardy’s second serves and winning 14 of those 22 points over the 80-minute match.
Del Potro also won a 2012 Cincinnati quarter-final from the Frenchman, but Chardy took a five-set triumph in the third round of the 2013 Australian Open.
Del Potro has won both career meetings with Querrey, taking the 2009 Auckland final and a 2011 Valencia quarter-final without dropping a set.
Querrey seeks his eighth career ATP title and the first since Los Angeles in 2012.
Smyczek dominated the first tiebreaker and broke when Querrey served for the second set in the 10th game, only to see his rival jump ahead 5-1 in the second tiebreaker on the way to forcing a third set.
Smyczek squandered four game points in the final game and was broken when he swatted a backhand wide to end the match, ending his hopes of a first-ever ATP semi-final.
World number 28 Dimitrov downed French eighth seed Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 7-5, firing seven aces in windy conditions to dispatch the 2015 Delray semi-finalist in 79 minutes.
“With the windy conditions, the only thing you can do is to stay focused,” Dimitrov said.
Dimitrov, who won the most recent of his four career ATP titles in 2014 at Queen’s, seeks his second final of the year after falling to Viktor Troicki in last month’s Sydney championship match.
“I just want to play a lot of matches and improve my game, Dimitrov said. “Step by step I will get back to the level I want to be at.”
Ram rallied to beat Germany’s Benjamin Becker 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Ram seeks a third career ATP crown after winning on Newport grass in 2009 and last year.
Meanwhile, former world number one Rafael Nadal reached the Rio Open semi-finals without even hitting a ball as Aleksandr Dolgopolov withdrew injured from their last-eight tie.
Nadal is playing at the low-key clay court event in a bid to find his form ahead of a tilt at an unprecedented 10th French Open crown in June.
The 29-year-old Spaniard has dropped to number five in the world after an injury-hit 2015 and suffered a shock semi-final defeat to Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals last week at Buenos Aires, where he was defending champion.
Ukraine’s Dolgopolov was forced to withdraw due to a right shoulder injury.
Results
ATP Tour Delray Beach Open
Quarter-finals
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x4) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA x8) 6-4, 7-5
Rajeev Ram (USA) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Sam Querrey (USA) bt Tim Smyczek (USA) 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4
Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) bt Jeremy Chardy (FRA x5) 6-2, 6-3
Rio de Janeiro Open
Men’s Singles Quarterfinals: 1-Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) walkover Guido Pella (Argentina) beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Spain) 5-7 6-1 7-5/s5-Dominic Thiem (Austria) beat 2-David Ferrer (Spain) 6-3 6-2 Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) beat Federico Delbonis (Argentina) 6-4 7-6(4).
