Juan Martin Del Potro has reached the final of ATP World Tour Finals after overcoming Robin Soderling in a three set thriller.
Fifth seed edges past Soderling in final set tie-breaker
Juan Martin Del Potro has reached the final of ATP World Tour Finals after overcoming Robin Soderling in a three set epic.
The Argentine US Open champion progressed by the narrowest of margins to book a date with Nikolay Davydenko on Sunday courtesy of a 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-3) win over the Swedish eighth seed, which will rank as the best match of the tournament so far.
Both men approached Saturday's evening clash hell bent on bludgeoning their opponent into submission and it was the 21-year-old fifth seed who eventually prevailed in an exceptional contest which lasted over two hours and eleven minutes.
Del Potro will have little rest before squaring off against Davydenko on Sunday afternoon, after the Russian finally tasted success against world number one Roger Federer with a three sets win earlier on Saturday.
The Argentinian, who had only secured his semi-final spot by one game from Murray, said: "I'm very happy to make my first final here in London."
Rockets
Recently crowned heavyweight champion David Haye was one of the 17,000 at the O2 Arena and his fellow sportsmen seemed to take it upon themselves to go into the last four clash like two fighters trying to knock out their opponent.
There was no room for delicate or pretty tennis, instead the duo proceeded to pulverise the ball with both men firing down booming serves and launching rockets of groundstrokes to win points.
The first set went with serve, although Del Potro looked the likeliest to claim the opener having carved out four break points on Soderling's serve, but the Swede held firm in the face of adversity before claiming the set largely due a wobble by the Argentine in the tiebreak.
Del Potro was 5-0 down in the breaker before he could register a point after coughing several unforced errors and the 21-year-old was made to pay dearly for his mistakes as Soderling sealed the set in 48 minutes.
The second went with serve until the decisive eighth game when Del Potro raised his level and hit a perfectly executed drop shot en route to breaking Soderling's serve and then comfortably holding his own to send the match into a decider.
Soderling looked like he had stolen a march on his rival in game six when he broke Del Potro's serve for the first time in the contest, but the 25-year-old relinquished the lead a game later before both men regained their composure to send the match into a final-set tiebreak.
Del Potro had learnt his lesson from the opening set and raced to 6-2 lead in the breaker. Soderling scored his 13th ace to keep his hopes alive, but the Flushing Meadows champion found an ace of his own on the next point to secure a showdown with Davydenko on Sunday.
Fight
Del Potro credited the fans with helping him recover in the third set, saying: "The crowd tell me to fight. The crowd was so exciting, cheering for both players.
"It was so close. We play unbelievable points. We serve well. The difference was just a couple of points."
Looking ahead to the final against Davydenko, he said: "He's very fast and he play well on this kind of surface. But if I play good, I think I will have a chance to win."
Soderling, who only qualified for the tournament because of Andy Roddick's withdrawal, said: "It's pretty disappointing. But I don't think I did anything wrong at the end of the match, he just played a little bit better than me."
