MIAMI —Former US Open winner Juan Martin del Potro defeated defending champ Sam Querrey in straight sets to reach his second straight Delray Beach Open semifinal Friday.
The victory sets up a mouth-watering battle with top seed Canadian Milos Raonic Saturday.
The seventh seeded del Potro, who won this ATP Tour event in 2011, beat American wild card Querrey 7-5, 7-5 in a 93-minute match on Stadium Court.
The Argentinian hammered eight aces, had two double faults and won 87 percent of his first serves points while overcoming 16 aces by Querrey.
De Potro has split his two career meetings with Raonic, but they haven’t played in four years.
“It’s going to be a big chance for me,” said del Potro. “He’s the favorite and is playing so good, but I want to see how my level is against the top players at this part of the year.”
Raonic booked his semifinal berth by rallying to beat Britain’s Kyle Edmund 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The 26-year-old hard-serving Canadian blasted 10 aces and won 90 percent of his first serve points against eighth-seeded Edmund in their first-career meeting.
The turning point in the 99-minute match came early in the third set after the pair split the first two sets. Raonic hit a monstrous forehand return winner during Edmund’s first service game of the final set. Raonic’s confidence grew and Edmund’s level declined after that.
The other semifinal has been set, with third-seeded Jack Sock downing fifth-seeded fellow American Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to book a meeting with unseeded Donald Young.
Young advanced by walkover when Belgian Steve Darcis pulled out to attend to family matters.
Sock, the highest-ranked American men’s player at No. 21, is going after his second title in 2017. He has yet to lose a set on a hard court this year and has a 10-1 match record.
Thiem reaches semifinals
Second-seeded Dominic Thiem beat Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-2, 6-3 Friday to reach the Rio Open semifinals, where he is the favorite following No. 1 Kei Nishikori’s defeat in the first round.
Thiem has won seven ATP singles titles — five of those on clay. He was tested at times, saving eight break points out of 10, but took all six of his chances on Schwartzman’s serve.
The 23-year-old Austrian next faces Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The Spaniard defeated Nicolas Kicker by the same score, breaking the Argentine’s serve three times.
Ramos-Vinolas defeated Thiem last year in their only previous match, 6-1, 6-4 in Chengdu, China.
In the other two quarterfinals, fourth-seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain defeated Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov. After splitting the first two sets, Dolgopolov retired with a left hip injury trailing 1-0 in the third set.
In the other quarterfinal, 18-year-old wild-card Casper Ruud of Norway defeated Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6-2, 7-6 (2).
Ruud will face Carreno Busta Saturday.
Kyrgios stands against French
Nick Kyrgios kept on course to defend his Marseille Open title with a 6-3, 6-3 quarter-final victory over Slovak qualifier Norbert Gombos Friday.
But he will have to overcome two home players if he is to retain his crown.
The 21-year-old Australian fired down 15 aces and lost just six points on serve in a ruthless display that lasted less than an hour.
In Saturday’s semifinal he will face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who thumped compatriot Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-1.
And if the third seed wins that, Kyrgios will also face a Frenchman in the final.
Sixth seed Richard Gasquet overcame top seed Gael Monfils in an all-French quarter-final 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-2.
He will play another compatriot next in fourth seed Lucas Pouille on Saturday after the latter defeated Russian Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. — Agencies
