By Chris Oddo | Friday March 16, 2018
Juan Martin del Potro marched past Philipp Kohlschreiber and into the BNP Paribas Open semifinals on Friday with a hard-fought 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory to put him on the cusp of a big milestone.
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The Argentine earned his 399th career win, in addition to his ninth straight, to set up a semifinal with Canada’s Milos Raonic on Saturday. Only one other Argentinean player has ever won 400 matches at the ATP level (Guillermo Vilas).
Earlier on Friday, Raonic outlasted American Sam Querrey in three sets to reach his third semifinal at the BNP Paribas Open in four seasons.
Del Potro improved to 6-0 lifetime against Kohlschreiber on hardcourts and saved five of seven break points including all four he faced in the third set. The World No.8 credited his ability to make a mid-match adjustment for his 15th victory of the season.
“It wasn't an easy match as everybody see,” the 29-year-old said. “But I was waiting for my chance to find the way of the game, and I did after the first set. And then my games improve a little bit, and I find the way of my returns. I play more aggressive with my two-handed backhands, and I play more down the line. I think that was the big key of the—big change of the match.”
Del Potro broke critically for 3-2 in the decider and saved break points in the next game to consolidate. It was close the whole way but once again the talented German came up on the short end of a big match—Kohlschreiber was bidding to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal in his 83rd appearance at this level.
Del Potro and Raonic have met three times previously, with the Canadian winning two. Del Potro will bid for his first Masters 1000 final since he played for the title at Indian Wells in 2013; Raonic has not reached a Masters final since 2016 when he was defeated by Novak Djokovic in the final at Indian Wells.
“He has everything to be in the top again,” Del Potro said of the oft-injured Raonic. “His game is so good. His serves are very strong. He's very good player. So he just need couple of weeks to improve his ranking and be what he deserve to be.”
Neither Raonic nor Del Potro has ever one a Masters 1000 title before. That’s something Del Potro would like to see change this weekend.
“I never win one of these,” Del Potro said, adding: “But I lost many finals, and I would like to be in the final again. But I know Milos is another guy who can win the tournament. Roger [Federer] and [Borna] Coric are playing so good. So everything can happen.
“But I'm looking forward to win the first one here.”