SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP)—Juan Martin del Potro’s comeback reached a major milestone Thursday night: He hit a serve so hard he snapped off the net for the first time in his life.
Then he cleared another benchmark.
Del Potro advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since returning from right wrist surgery, beating Lukas Lacko in straight sets at the SAP Open with some of the same power and precision that propelled him to major champion.
“I’m serving very strong,” he said, chuckling at a 132 mph serve that forced a 10-minute delay. “That’s the reason.”
Del Potro’s 6-1, 7-6 (1) victory was his biggest yet after the procedure last May, which derailed the 2009 U.S. Open champion’s rapid rise. He missed most of last year with injuries and only now is starting to regain his form and build back his fitness.
The hard-hitting Argentine smacked his way past Lacko with punishing, penetrating forehands that pushed his opponent behind the baseline most of the match. Del Potro held off two set points in the second, forced the tiebreaker and finished it off with a strong serve he only lost once.
“I feel different sensations with my body and my mind,” he said. “But I’m happy to be in a tournament again after a year out. I’m improving my game slowly. I’m still improving, that’s important for the future and for the season, too.”
He will face two-time Grand Slam singles champion Lleyton Hewitt on Friday for a spot in the semifinals. Hewitt eliminated Brian Dabul 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
The matchup is perhaps the most intriguing in a tuneup tournament for Indian Wells next month.
Hewitt defeated del Potro in straight sets at Wimbledon in 2009, then lost to him in a tiebreaker in the third set in Washington—just before del Potro’s U.S. Open title. The pair of former major winners both have slipped in the rankings, although the ripe 22-year-old del Potro still might have his best days ahead.
The meeting will be the first between Grand Slam winners in San Jose since 2003, when Andre Agassi and Michael Chang met in the first round. Agassi beat Chang in straight sets.
“It’ll be a tough match,” said the 29-year-old Hewitt, who won Wimbledon in 2002 and the U.S. Open in 2001. “He’s a quality player, and he’s on the comeback from injury, so he hasn’t played the most amount of tennis. But he’s a quality player, and if he gets up, it’s going to be a tough match.”
Earlier in the day, Denis Istomin advanced with a 7-6 (7), 7-6 (4) victory over Michael Russell; Tim Smyczek outlasted Kei Nishikori 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; top seed Fernando Verdasco defeated Ivo Karlovic 7-5, 7-5; and Gael Monfils beat Robert Kendrick 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
But it’s del Potro who is suddenly trying to steal back the spotlight.
The 6-foot-6 Argentine showed that powerful serve and whipping forehand that once had him among the best in tennis. Up 3-1 in the first, he hammered a serve off the tape and the hinge in the middle of the net snapped, suspending play after quick attempts to fix it failed.
That was about the only hiccup.
He overpowered Lacko from the first point, double-faulted twice to go down a break in the second but quickly broke back. He also had a pair of aces—nine in all—to withstand two set points, then cruised in the tiebreaker.
Of course, such dominance isn’t surprising anyone at San Jose.
It was only about 17 months ago that del Potro was No. 4 in the world rankings, stepping into prime time with pounding forehands and go-for-broke shots that painted lines and dazzled crowds under the lights at Flushing Meadows. But a wrist injury put all those hopes on hold, sidelining him for most of last year and dropping him to 484th in the latest rankings.
Del Potro is playing only his third tournament—and first in the United States since his U.S. Open run—this year and is looking to make a splash. He was eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open and lost in the second round in Sydney before that.
“I don’t know if I will be top 10 again in the future,” he said. “But I know the way to find that position in the future. I’m working for that goal.”