Rain Halts Soderling-Del Potro Rematch

Rain washed out the much anticipated quarterfinal match Friday between Robin Soderling and Juan Martin Del Potro at the Estoril Open in Portugal.  Del Potro won the first set and was trailing in the second set when play was suspended.

The first set was decided on Del Potro’s superiority on the key points.  The Argentine, on the comeback trail after missing almost all of last year with a wrist injury, capitalized on his second break point opportunity in the fifth game of the match.

Soderling had his chances, but was unable to convert any of his four chances to break Del Potro, including two in the fourth game of the match and two more in the sixth game.  In the pivotal eighth game of the set, Del Potro went down 0-30 and came back to win four consecutive points to secure a 5-3 lead and take control of the set.

Soderling broke through to finally break Del Potro after holding serve to start the second set.  The Swede crushed an inside-out forehand that the tall Argentine returned beyond the baseline to jump out to an early 2-0 lead.

The match was played under ominously dark skies, and the rain finally began to fall with Soderling leading 4-1 and Del Potro serving at 15-30.  Play was delayed briefly at 15-15 when the spectators rushed for cover from the rain; Del Potro, irritated by the distraction and two previous calls he felt went against him, double faulted and the players were called back to the locker room.

Soderling is trying to win back-to-back matches at a tournament for the first time since winning the title at Marseille in mid-February.  He lost to Del Potro in the second round at the Sony Ericsson Masters 1000 in Miami at the end of March.  Del Potro dominated that match, played on a hard court, in straight sets without facing a break point.

The winner of this match will face Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas in the semifinals.  Cuevas backed up his win over No. 3 seed Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the second round by beating No. 6 seed Tomaz Bellucci earlier Friday in the quarterfinals before the rain washed out play.