Del Potro Stops Dimitrov to Reach Rotterdam Final

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Del Potro Stops Dimitrov to Reach Rotterdam Final

By Chris Oddo

(February 16, 2013) -- Juan Martin Del Potro pushed past 21-year-old Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4 to reach his second consecutive ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament final on Saturday.

The 24-year-old World No. 7 fought off the only two break points he faced against Dimitrov, increasing his run of fine serving in Rotterdam to a perfect 40 consecutive holds and 9 of 9 break points saved.

"I played a really good match today, maybe the best match of the week," said Del Potro. "I'm serving well and that gives me confidence to play aggressive."

Del Potro's imposing serves and forehands kept the nimble Dimitrov off balance for much of the day. Displaying vastly improved footwork, the fleet-footed Bulgarian was forced to scramble too often to make a significant dent in the Argentine's armour. Del Potro broke the Bulgarian in the third game of each set, forcing Dimitrov, who was playing for a spot in his second career final and second of the season, to play under pressure.

"Juan Martin is one of the toughest guys to play on tour," said Dimitrov afterwards. "He played very good tennis today; he deserved to win the match."

Del Potro reached his 19th career final with the victory. He has a record of 13-5 in his previous finals.

After losing to Roger Federer in last year's Rotterdam final, Del Potro has won his last three finals under a roof (Marseille, d. Llodra; Vienna, d. Zemlja; Basel, d. Federer).

Del Potro will face Julien Benneteau in Sunday's final. Benneteau reached his 8th career final with a 6-4, 7-6(2) victory over Gilles Simon. It was Benneteau's 3rd win in six career matches against Simon.

Benneteau tops the ATP's active list of number of finals played without a title (7).

Del Potro has never played Benneteau.

(Photo Credit: AP)