Music: {allcanada} Raonic retires from Estoril Open

Saturday, April 30, 2011

{allcanada} Raonic retires from Estoril Open

OEIRAS, Portugal -- Juan Martin del Potro beat Pablo Cuevas 6-2, 7-6 (6) to reach his second final of the season at the Estoril Open on Saturday, where Fernando Verdasco awaits after the Spanish player got past Canada's Milos Raonic.

Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, dropped only six points on his first serve and hit four aces, while Cuevas was unable to claim a single break chance against the fifth-seeded player.

Del Potro broke Cuevas' serve twice in the first set but failed on eight break chances in the second as his 65th-ranked opponent took it to a tiebreaker where the Argentine saved a set point before converting his first match point to dispatch his Uruguayan opponent.

Verdasco's lone break of the hard-hitting Raonic's serve was enough to secure the first set 6-4 before the Canadian player retired just after the start of the second set with a back injury. The 12th-ranked Verdasco had previously lost to Raonic in the final at San Jose and in Memphis.

Both players were on court for the second time Saturday after rain then darkness had delayed their quarter-finals matches on Friday. Verdasco rallied to beat Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-3 and Raonic battled another rain delay to secure a hard-fought 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 win over Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Del Potro, going for his ninth career title in his first clay-court event of the season, won in Delray Beach in February in his comeback from wrist surgery last year. Del Potro, currently No. 46, lost to Verdasco in San Jose when ranked No. 484.

Meanwhile, Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain braved a rain delay to capture her 10th WTA title by beating Kristina Barrois of Germany 6-1, 6-2 in the women's final.

The 61st-ranked Medina Garrigues was leading 3-2 in the second set when rain interrupted the match.

But the break did little to rattle Medina Garrigues, who dropped just seven points on first serve and broke her opponent six times to capture her ninth clay court title, a feat that matches Venus Williams' record among active players.

"Anabel plays with such heavy spin and is such a great clay court player, it was tough for me on every single point," Barrois said.