Olympics 2012 Tennis Semi-finals: Federer Vs Del Potro, Murray Vs Djokovic

Swiss ace Roger Federer will meet Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals of the tennis event at the London Olympics, while Great Britain’s Andy Murray will take on Serb Novak Djokovic.

Federer despatched American John Isner in straight sets 6-4, 7-6  on Thursday, August 2, to set up his semi-final date with Del Potro who prevailed over Japan’s Kei Nishikori, by an identical score-line.

Federer will fancy himself against Del Potro whom he beat at both the Australian Open and the French Open, earlier this year. The Argentine will want to recapture the form he showed when he beat Federer in the US Open final, in 2009. On that occasion, Federer was gunning for a sixth consecutive US Open title and led the Argentine by two sets to one, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. But del potro, then just 20 years old, showed great resolve in leveling the score at two sets a piece, by winning his second tie-breaker of the match. The Argentine underlined his immense courage and class to dominate the last set and win it 6-2.

Murray prevailed, 6-4, 6-1, with a fair degree of comfort, over Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, while Djokovic steamrolled Jo-Wilfred Tsonga 6-1, 7-5. Going by their current form, Murray appears to have the edge over Djokovic, although the former world number one will be no push-over.

Djokovic had lapses of concentration against Lleyton Hewitt in an earlier round on Wednesday when the Australian took a set off the Serb. Against Tsonga, Djokovic fell 3-0 behind in the second set before the Frenchman allowed him to get back on track.

Almagro who was nursing an injured shouldered appeared pleased to have got his quarter-final match out of the way quickly. Murray, however, never gave in to complacency as he let fly nine aces on a day his serve was on overdrive.

Tags: Australia, Djokovic, Federer, Murray

Category: London Olympics, Tennis