Rotterdam: Ernests Gulbis of Latvia upset top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to book a place in the semi-finals of the ABN Amro tournament.
Del Potro, who is also the tournament's defending champion, saved four break points in the first set. The Argentine is recovering from a wrist injury and it wasn't clear whether it may have been bothering him. He took a medical time-out after the first set, but decided to continue.
However, his service appeared to suffer: in the first set, he served five aces to Gulbis' six. In the second, Gulbis had six more while Del Potro had none.
"It's nice to have beaten the defending champion, but actually it doesn't matter to me who won last year or 10 years ago," Gulbis said. "I'm through to the semi-finals, and that's the most important."
Third-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych survived a difficult first set, including a tiebreak in which he had five set points. He regrouped and went on to win 6-7 (9), 6-2, 6-4 against Jerzy Janowicz of Poland. Berdych and Gulbis will meet in one semi-final.
Second seed Andy Murray plays Marin Cilic, and hometown favorite Dutchman Igor Sijseling faces Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. The winners will play in the other semi-final.
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