Del Potro building confidence with opening Sydney win

Jan 11, 2012, 7:40 GMT

Sydney - Juan Del Potro reached the quarter-finals of the Sydney International on Wednesday with the Argentine making a statement of intent with his 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Pole Lukas Kubot.

After two seasons of wrist surgery recovery and a shoulder injury, the Argentine ranked 11th is ready to make the big push back into the elite, here he once stood fourth on the ATP.

But the South American is not pushing things, preferring to begins his season by winning one match at a time. 'It could be a big challenge for me to win a major this year, I'm still far from that,' he said. 'But I'm working hard and feeling good every day.

'I must take it step by step. To reach the second week of the Australian Open would be a good start to the year.

'I improved a lot last season and won matches. That helped me a lot with confidence, knowing that I can stay healthy. I don't think of my wrist now, that's a good signal for the future.'

American qualifier Bobby Reynolds put out second-seeded John Isner 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 as the big man struggled with his game. Number three Richard Gasquet, who played a weekend Hopman Cup final in Perth for France, crushed Italian Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-1.

Number four Feliciano Lopez fell to Julien Benneteau of France 6-3, 6-4.

There was another upset as Finn Jarkko Nieminen outlasted eighth seed Radek Stepanek 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-1. It was the second week in a row that the pair had met, with the veteran Czech winning their second-round match in Brisbane.

2010 Sydney champion Marcos Baghdatis kept up his winning pace, defeating Aussie Matthew Ebden 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).

In women's quarter-final play, French Open winner Li Na, the fourth seed, moved ahead at the expense of Lucie Safarova 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).

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