Tsonga, Del Potro reach Vienna semis

By Bill Scott Oct 28, 2011, 20:30 GMT

Vienna - Argentine Juan Del Potro and top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga booked spots in the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open on Friday, with Del Potro refusing to let potential Davis Cup distraction interfere with his ATP tennis task to hand.

While the South American put out German veteran Tommy Haas 6-2, 6-4 with relative ease, it took a battle for Vienna debutant Tsonga to finally beat Belgian Xavier Malisse 4-6, 7-6 (4-7), 6-4 in two hours.

It was a second slow start in as many matches for Tsonga, who is bidding to a place at the year-end finals like Del Potro.

As in his opening match against Jarkko Nieminen, the Frenchman lost the first set before winning the second in a tiebreaker and riding an early break in the third into the final four.

Malisse was playing his fourth quarter-final of the season and had defeated Tsonga earlier in 2011. The pair combined for 30 aces with Tsonga accounting for 20.

Del Potro will play Saturday against South African sixth seed Kevin Anderson, who upset Austria's third-seeded two-time champion Juergen Melzer 6-3, 6-3.

Tsonga faces off against German qualifier Daniel Brands, a winner against Steve Darcis 6-3, 6-4.

Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, will be concentrating strictly on his on-court duties this week and for the two weeks to follow before worrying about the international team competition against Spain set for December 2-4.

In addition to the Davis Cup, the 23-year-old also stands 12th in the race for one of three remaining places in the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals in London November 20-27.

But that is not cluttering Del Potro's mind either.

'The Davis Cup is in our minds every day. But I'm a professional and it's this week that I'm concentrating on.

'Then there's Valencia, Paris (Bercy) and then the Davis Cup. The Davis Cup is the goal but there are important tournaments before that.'

Del Potro last played a semi-final in Estoril in late April on his way to that title, one of two this year.

Del Potro rained down ten aces in his win over 33-year-old qualifier Haas, once the world number two but now on the comeback trail after hip surgery. The Argentine never faced a breakpoint in the one hour, 20-minute win.

'To beat Haas indoors is a good win. Tommy is dangerous, if you don't focus against him you can make mistakes.

'I was able to close it out well with my serve. But I need to play better if I'm to get any farther here,' said the player who is making his second appearance in the Austrian capital after last playing in 2008.