Potro, Isner, Collins, Ostapenko reach Miami Open semis

MIAMI, Mar 29 (AFP): Juan Martin del Potro raised the roof as he came from behind to beat Milos Raonic 5-7, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/3) and power into a Miami Open semi-final clash with American John Isner.

Roared on by a partisan crowd, del Potro rallied after losing the first set to finally wear down the Canadian in two hours and 53 minutes of relentless drama.

Isner will, however, be a difficult nut to crack with the American recovering from an early season slump to play some of the best tennis of his career.

His destruction of South Korean Chung Hyeon 6-1, 6-4 was impressive considering the 14th seed arrived in South Florida having won just two matches all year.

Meanwhile, Danielle Collins produced the performance of a lifetime and pulled off an almighty shock at the WTA Miami Open on Wednesday, sending Venus Williams crashing out 6-2, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.

Ostapenko, meanwhile, showed the kind of aggression and heavy hitting which will be needed to keep Collins quiet when they meet in the last four on Thursday.

In a rematch of last year's round of 16 match at Wimbledon, the French Open champion was too strong for fourth seed Elina Svitolina, running out a deserved 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/5) winner.

The 20-year-old hit 42 unforced errors in an effort to blow Svitolina off the court, but offset that with an impressive 44 winners.