Events / Ben Caudell / 16 May 2009 /

Juan Martin Del Potro is flying high after defeating Andy Murray but Ben Caudell believes the Argentine is about to come unstuck against the world number two.

Juan Martin Del Potro broke up the big four party when he upset the odds by beating world No.3 Andy Murray 7-6, 6-3 to reach the semi finals for the first time in Madrid.

Del Potro, who reached the Miami semi-finals earlier this year, will be chasing his second title of 2009. The Argentine was ruthless in dispatching of the young Brit, hitting cleanly from the back of the court and putting away any short or mid-court balls with sublime accuracy and efficiency, completing another fruitful day for our daily tips. We backed Del Potro @ [3.2] to win the match and layed Murray 2-0 @ [2.17].

There were also wins yesterday for the top three ranked players - Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Federer recorded his 18th win in 20 matches over the American hitting 15 aces compared with Andy Roddick's nine to set himself up for a challenging semi-final showdown with Juan Martin Del Porto. Rafael Nadal went through to the next round with a tough match against home town native Fernando Verdasco 6-4 7-5 and Novak Djokovic who won 72% of service points beat Croatian wild card Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-4. The semi-final match between Nadal and Djokovic will be the third straight ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournament in which these two have played against each other. Nadal has won the last eight matches on clay against the Serb

Today's Selections:

Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) v Roger Federer (SWI)
The top Argentine enters this semi-final clash at a career-high No.5 in the world rankings. He is attempting to reach his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final and overall seventh ATP World Tour title.

Federer will be trying to reach the final in Madrid for the third time in four years. He has a slight advantage over the Argentine as he leads their head-to-head 4-0, none of which were played on clay. The Swiss master has never dropped a set against Del Potro and his last win was a formidable 6-3 6-0 6-0 in the Australian Open quarter-final earlier this year.

Federer will be more motivated in his quest to defeat Del Potro than he was in his match against Andy Roddick yesterday. The No.2 seed will want to test himself pre-French Open against Rafael Nadal. It is very rare to see Federer at such a big price and with experience and head-to-head records counting for a lot in these Master Series events only a win for Federer will suffice.

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