Murray ousted by Del Potro
Battling Wozniacki to play Sharapova in title decider
Erratic serving cost Andy Murray dearly as the US Open champion was knocked out of the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals 6-7 6-3 6-1 by Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro in California, on Friday.
Though the British world number three edged a close first set 7-5 on the tiebreak, he lost serve once in the second and three times in the third to make a premature exit from the ATP Masters 1000 event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Seventh-seeded Del Potro will next face world number one Novak Djokovic, who was barely tested as he demolished Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-1 to extend his unbeaten run to 22 matches.
The first two quarter-finals were completed on Thursday, Rafa Nadal continuing his impressive comeback by thumping long-time rival Roger Federer 6-4 6-2 and Czech Tomas Berdych sweeping past big-serving South African Kevin Anderson 6-4 6-4.
“It was a tough match, I didn’t serve particularly well,” Murray told reporters after serving eight aces and eight double faults during a match lasting just over two-and-a-half hours.
“There were a lot of long rallies. Very warm conditions the first set or two, and sometimes on the serve if your legs are just a little bit tired you can miss serves.
“Timing might go a little bit off and you’re not quite getting up to them. That’s maybe what happened today.”
Djokovic delivered a ruthless display against the eighth-seeded Tsonga, breaking his error-prone opponent twice in each set and not dropping a single point on his own serve in the second set.
The Serbian world number one will be looking to extend his stellar form, having not been beaten since last October when he was defeated by big-serving American Sam Querrey in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris.
Meanwhile, former champion Caroline Wozniacki battled through a marathon encounter to upset fourth-seeded German Angelique Kerber 2-6 6-4 7-5 and reach her third BNP Paribas Open final in four years.
The eighth-seeded Dane, winner at Indian Wells in 2011 after being a losing finalist the previous year, held off a late fightback by Kerber to scrape through in a wildly fluctuating contest lasting two-and-a-half hours.
Wozniacki will next face 2006 champion Maria Sharapova, who overcame fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-4 6-3 in the second semi-final at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Sharapova, like Wozniacki a former world number one, will also be appearing in her third final in California, having been demolished by Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in the title match last year.