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Del Potro and Djokovic in Wimbledon Semifinals Murray Wins in Five Sets as Wimbledon Beams
(about 2 hours later)
WIMBLEDON, England — On the scoreboard, the straight-sets quarterfinal victories by Juan Martín del Potro and Novak Djokovic on Wednesday might have looked routine. WIMBLEDON, England — Andy Murray did not want to hear it. He did not want to hear about how his draw got so much easier when Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were eliminated. He did not want to hear about how he was never going to have a better chance to win Wimbledon. And he certainly did not want to hear about how lucky he was to have unseeded Fernando Verdasco as his quarterfinal opponent.
But that is only if you did not see del Potro near tears during the first game, his injured left knee being inspected by a doctor when another fall left him close to retiring from the match. “Verdasco is a very, very good tennis player,” Murray said Monday. “Very good at tennis. He's playing very well this week. He's extremely dangerous when he's on his game. Yeah, that's it. I mean, Verdasco’s a very good tennis player.”
If the fans and the news media did not get it then, they certainly did by the time Murray had lost the first two sets of their quarterfinal match Wednesday afternoon.
But after scolding himself with a “What are you doing?” after the second set, Murray rallied to the delight of the packed Centre Court and the masses on Murray Mount, where there was hardly a patch of grass left to sit on.
With their favorite down, the crowd could not contain itself at times, yelling, “Come on, Andy!” in the middle of points and repeatedly being admonished by the chair umpire.
Murray said he made poor choices in the second set, but won the third easily, then saved four break points in the fourth. He broke Verdasco in the eighth game and then served out the set.
The fifth was an on-serve duel until the 11th game, when Murray earned the break and then held at love to win the match, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.
Verdasco was ranked as high as seventh in 2009. But now, at 29, he is 54th, the ninth ranked player in Spain. He had never advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
“I know how good these players are,” Murray said Wednesday. “It’s everyone else who thinks that they are not.”
He will next play the No. 24 seed, Jerzy Janowicz, who is having his breakthrough moment at this tournament. A 22-year-old from Poland, Janowicz advanced to his first Grand Slam semifinal by defeating his countryman Lukasz Kubot, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
The last time Janowicz and Murray played, in the fourth round of the Paris Masters, Janowicz won.
Like Murray, Juan Martín del Potro and Novak Djokovic had not lost a set in the tournament going into their quarterfinal matches. On the scoreboard, their straight-sets victories might have looked routine.
But that is only if you did not see del Potro lying on the court near tears in the first game, his injured left knee being inspected by a doctor when another fall left him close to retiring from the match.
It was only routine if you did not see Djokovic’s frustration in the first set against Tomas Berdych, or if you did not see Djokovic down by two breaks in the second.It was only routine if you did not see Djokovic’s frustration in the first set against Tomas Berdych, or if you did not see Djokovic down by two breaks in the second.
Del Potro and Djokovic will meet in the semifinals Friday. Neither has lost a set in the tournament, but their experiences could hardly have been more different. Del Potro and Djokovic will meet in the semifinals Friday, but their experiences getting there could hardly have been more different.
After defeating the seventh-seeded Berdych, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3, the top-ranked Djokovic is in his 13th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, and is in the Wimbledon semifinals for the fourth straight year.After defeating the seventh-seeded Berdych, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3, the top-ranked Djokovic is in his 13th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, and is in the Wimbledon semifinals for the fourth straight year.
After beating fourth-seeded David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (5), the No. 8 del Potro is in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time, advancing with a heavily taped knee after slipping and hyperextending it in his third-round match Saturday.After beating fourth-seeded David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (5), the No. 8 del Potro is in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time, advancing with a heavily taped knee after slipping and hyperextending it in his third-round match Saturday.
He hyperextended the knee again Wednesday, needing a medical timeout and what he called “magic pills” from a doctor. He hyperextended the knee again Wednesday in a spectacular fall, needing a medical timeout and anti-inflammatories that he called “magic pills.”
“I was really close to pulling out because I felt a lot of pain,” del Potro said.“I was really close to pulling out because I felt a lot of pain,” del Potro said.
But he played on, and in the third game he broke Ferrer, who has also been bothered by an ankle injury. Ferrer could not handle the aggressive, efficient del Potro for the rest of the match. But he played on because, he said, the quarterfinals of Wimbledon were too important to him and the doctors told him he could play without making the injury worse.
Del Potro saved his best for last, perhaps knowing that not winning in straight sets would be bad for his knee. In the third-set tiebreaker, he gave himself a match point with a blistering cross-court forehand winner. Then he closed out the match by capping a riveting rally with a running forehand down the line. In the third game del Potro broke Ferrer, who has also been bothered by an ankle injury. Del Potro said the early service break gave him confidence, and after winning the first set, he did not think about his knee.
Del Potro collapsed — in joy this time — and lay on his back, pumping his fists. In a postmatch interview with the BBC, he called his last shot “my best forehand ever.” “After the first set, I warmed up,” he said. “I was comfortable with my body to run.”
Djokovic and Berdych were evenly matched until the first-set tiebreaker, when Berdych, up by 5-4, made three straight errors to give Djokovic the set. Ferrer continued to struggle with his first serve, and with the aggressive, efficient del Potro, who won the 2009 United States Open but has struggled with injuries since.
Del Potro saved his best for last, perhaps knowing that a long match would not be good for his knee. In the third-set tiebreaker, he gave himself a match point with a blistering cross-court forehand winner. Then he closed out the match by capping a riveting rally with a running forehand down the line. He called it “my best forehand ever.”
Del Potro collapsed — in joy this time — and lay on his back, pumping his fists.
“It’s my first semifinals here, another semifinals in Grand Slam after couple of years,” he said. “I think I’m in the fight again with the top guys. That is my challenge for the future.”
Djokovic will certainly pose a formidable challenge in the semifinals for a player who might not be totally healthy. (“I will need to be 100 percent or 110 percent against him,” del Potro said.)
Berdych had opportunities against Djokovic. He was up by 5-4 in the first-set tiebreaker, then made three straight errors to give Djokovic the set.
Berdych seemed to bounce back, breaking Djokovic at love in the first game of the second set. He went up two breaks at 3-0, but Djokovic rallied to put the match back on serve at 3-3, and the rest of the match did seem routine.Berdych seemed to bounce back, breaking Djokovic at love in the first game of the second set. He went up two breaks at 3-0, but Djokovic rallied to put the match back on serve at 3-3, and the rest of the match did seem routine.
The last time Djokovic and del Potro played here it was in the bronze medal match at the Olympics, which del Potro won, 7-5, 6-4. “You have to play really on the limit, playing really great to have a chance to beat him,” Berdych said. “That was not my case today.”
The last time Djokovic and del Potro played here, the bronze medal match of the London Olympics, del Potro won, 7-5, 6-4.
Like Berdych, del Potro is tall, with a big serve and flat, powerful ground strokes. But Djokovic said he felt physically fresh, calm and comfortable as he goes for his second Wimbledon title.
“Inspiration is out there, you know,” Djokovic said. “Of course you always want to do your best in the Grand Slams.”