Del Potro ousts Ferrer at Japan Open

Oct 3, 2008 - 1:44 PM TOKYO (Ticker) -- Juan Martin del Potro's run of success ensured a new champion at the Japan Open.

The fifth-seeded Argentine forged a 6-1, 7-5 upset of top seed and defending champion David Ferrer of Spain in the quarterfinals of the $869,000 hardcourt event Friday.

Del Potro had never won on the ATP Tour before capturing four consecutive tournaments during the summer, and he followed that with an impressive run the the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

"I have changed a lot of things in my game and in my mind, there is not one in particular that has improved so much this year," said del Potro, who has gone from 81st to 12th in the rankings since April. "It is a combination of a lot of things. The first set looked easy but I knew it was going to be harder than that because (Ferrer) is a warrior and fights until the last point."

The 20-year-old del Potro advanced to face fourth-seeded Richard Gasquet of France, who earned a 6-3, 6-2 victory against No. 12 seed German Rainer Schuettler in their quarterfinal match.

"I am not surprised by how (del Potro) played," said Ferrer, the world No. 5. "He has so much confidence right now winning all these matches the last two months. Today he served very well on important points - that was the difference."

Like Ferrer, third-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez fell short of the semifinals on Friday.

Ninth seed Czech Tomas Berdych cruised to a 6-0, 6-4 victory against Gonzalez, setting up a meeting with second-seeded American Andy Roddick, who moved one step closer to his second straight title by forging a 6-3, 6-4 victory over unseeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia.

Roddick, who won his 26th career title on Sunday at the China Open, fired seven aces and cruised to the final four in 1 hour, 20 minutes.

"That was pretty good," Roddick said. "It's the best I have hit the ball this week. I did not feel very comfortable during my first match here but now I know I can get through the weekend if I keep playing like this."

The world No. 8, Roddick owns a 2-1 record lifetime against Berdych, who earned his only victory during their first meeting at Madrid in 2006.

First prize is $135,000.