By Chris Oddo | Friday February 19, 2016
Juan Martin del Potro kept his roll going at the Delray Beach Open with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded Jeremy Chardy on Friday night. The 27-year-old Argentine was able to keep the Frenchman at bay with strong serving and strong returning to coast to the easy victory, his second in three career tilts against Chardy.
Del Potro saved three of four break points and broke twice in each set during the 80-minute affair, and Chardy was erratic from the onset, perhaps due to the gusty conditions at Delray.
Del Potro claimed the first set with one of his best two-handed backhands of the evening, a running bullet that caught Chardy out of position after he had struck an inside-out forehand.
Gradually Del Potro has started to rely on his two-handed backhand more at Delray Beach, but he rarely has sought to strike it with pace. Instead he has been content to develop feel and consistency with the shot as he simultaneously tests the physical limits of his physically repaired left wrist.
He has stated that the backhand is a work in progress, and despite the fact that he’s limiting himself to virtually zero offense off that wing, Del Potro has still managed to win three matches in straight sets in his first tournament in nearly a year.
So far, so good.
On Saturday the 2011 Delray Beach Champion will face Sam Querrey in the semifinals. The American battled from a set down to take down Tim Smyczek in an all-American tilt, 6-7(1), 7-6(4), 6-4.
The other semifinal will feature 4th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov and unseeded American Rajeev Ram. Dimitrov, the highest remaining seed in the draw, dropped only five first-serve points en route to a 6-4, 7-5 victory over eighth-seeded Adrian Mannarino, while Ram came back to defeat Benjamin Becker, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.