WASHINGTON, Aug 14: Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro scrambled to a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Israel’s Dudi Sela in the second round of the ATP event here on Wednesday, extending his winning streak to 16 matches.
The second seed, who has won his past three tournaments, lost just seven points in the opening set but was pushed hard thereafter before finally reaching the quarter-finals.
Sela, who had not won an ATP Tour match since May before his first round victory here, was overwhelmed at the start as Del Potro blitzed through the first set in just 19 minutes.
The match looked over when Del Potro broke to lead 2-1 in the second, but Sela hit straight back and as he settled, the 19-year-old Del Potro lost his way.
Sela levelled the set and then saved break points in each of his first two service games in the decider, but Del Potro broke for 3-2 and again for 5-2 before serving out the match.
The 6ft-6in Argentine will next play 6ft-9in American John Isner, who beat his compatriot Donald Young 6-4, 7-6.
Earlier, German Tommy Haas ground out a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Nicolas Mahut to advance to only his third quarter-final of the year.
After his first-round defeat in Los Angeles last week, the fourth seed was more like his old self as he hit 12 aces in a win that set up a clash against unseeded Colombian Alejandro Falla.
The former world No 2 led 5-3 in the first set but failed to serve out as he was pegged back by the talented Mahut, who had won both their previous meetings but who has slipped down the rankings to 81st after a disappointing season.
However, Haas recovered to take the tiebreak 7-4 and though Mahut hung in well until 3-3 in the second set, the German broke in the seventh and ninth games to book his place in the last eight.
Falla, ranked 122nd after an injury-ravaged year, ousted Frenchman Florent Serra 7-6, 7-6 in a match that lasted almost two-and-a-half hours.
Serra had two set points when he served at 6-5 in the second, but Falla saved them and broke back to force another tiebreak.
The Colombian then saved four more set points in the tiebreak before finally taking it 13-11, much to his relief.
Wednesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Second round: 2-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) bt Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 John Isner (US) bt Donald Young (US) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); 4-Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Nicolas Mahut (France) 7 6 (7-4), 6-3; Alejandro Falla (Colombia) bt Florent Serra (France) 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (13-11).
PETROVA MOVES AHEAD
CINCINNATI (Ohio): Second seed Nadia Petrova marched into the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday with a 6-1. 6-1 win over American Julie Ditty.
The Russian was never troubled as she wrapped up victory in 57 minutes to seal a last-eight berth against American wildcard entry Lilia Osterloh, who beat Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 6-1.
Third seed Maria Kirilenko survived a scare before beating Canadian qualifier Stephanie Dubois 1-6, 6-2, 7-5.
The Russian, beaten by Dubois in Montreal two weeks ago, was hammered in the first set but rebounded well to set up a battle with German Sabine Lisicki, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Camille Pin of France.
However, fourth seed Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia was a surprise casualty, losing 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 to another Frenchwoman, veteran Nathalie Dechy, who snatched the final-set tiebreak 7-1.
Dechy’s win put her through to a clash with either sixth seed Aleksandra Wosniak of Canada or Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko.
Fifth seed Amelie Mauresmo, the former world No 1, was scheduled to continue her latest comeback from injury on Thursday when she faces Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer in a second-round match.
Results:
Second round: Nathalie Dechy (France) bt 4-Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1); 2-Nadia Petrova (Russia) bt Julie Ditty (US) 6-1, 6-1; Lilia Osterloh (US) bt Petra Cetkovska (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-1; 3-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) bt Stephanie Dubois (Canada) 1-6, 6-2, 7-5; Sabine Lisicki (Germany) bt Camille Pin (France) 6-3, 6-4.—Reuters
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