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.
Potro, Isner, Collins, Ostapenko reach Miami Open semis
FE Team | Published: March 29, 2018 21:19:12
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