Del Potro, Tipsarevic roll into Vienna semis

Top seeds Juan Martin del Potro and Janko Tipsarevic boosted their chances of reaching the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals on Friday when they eased into the Austrian Open semi-finals.

Number one seed Del Potro, playing his first event in a month after a wrist injury suffered in the Davis Cup semi-finals, had too much class for Australia’s Marinko Matosevic, 6-2, 6-2.

Tipsarevic, still jet-lagged from playing in Shanghai last week, enjoyed a swift 6-2, 4-2 passage after Slovenian opponent Aljaz Bedene quit with a thigh injury.

The 63-minute result was welcomed by the second seed, who had played both singles and doubles the day before.

But there was disappointment for third-seeded Tommy Haas as the German veteran went down on six breaks of serve to Grega Zemlja of Slovenia, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, just a day after notching his 500th career win.

On Saturday, Del Potro will face Gilles Muller who beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-4 while Tipsarevic will get a re-run of a US Open match-up when he faces Zemlja, ranked 70th.

Del Potro and Tipsarevic are chasing two of the three remaining places in the eight-man World Tour Finals which start on November 5 in London.

With this weekend, and two more weeks of play remaining, every match counts.

“I had a good match but you can always improve some things,” said Del Potro. “Against Muller, I will have to try and break his big serve and hold my own.

“I’m ready for a tough match, I need more matches since I’ve only played two since returning this week. I need to improve for the semi-finals.”

Tipsarevic stands ninth in the race to London and is doing his best to keep his mind in the present.

“I would lie if I said I was not thinking about London,” said the Serb, now 55-22 this season with a title from Stuttgart.

Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic serves to Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene during their quarter final match as part of the Vienna ATP 250 tournament. Tipsarevic, still jet-lagged from playing in Shanghai last week, enjoyed a swift 6-2, 4-2 passage to the semi-finals of the ATP Austrian Open after Bedene quit with a thigh injury.

Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, still jet-lagged from playing in Shanghai last week, enjoyed a swift 6-2, 4-2 passage to the semi-finals of the ATP Austrian Open on Friday after Slovenian opponent Aljaz Bedene quit with a thigh injury.

The 63-minute result was welcomed by the second seed, who had played both singles and doubles the day before while still feeling the residual effects of a flight from Shanghai.

“I had an easy day and I really needed it,” said Tipsarevic, who is fighting to book one of three remaining spots in the season wrap-up World Tour Finals next month in London. “After my matches and stretching last night, I finished at about 1:30 am.

“He was having trouble with his leg, it was not doing him any good,” Tipsarevic said of the 89th-ranked Bedene.

Tipsarevic has now won his last 34 matches against players ranked outside the top 75.

The Serb will wait for a winner from 2001 champion and popular German Tommy Haas, the fourth seed who won his 500th career match on Thursday, and Slovenia Grega Zemlja, whom Tipsarevic beat at the US Open.

Tipsarevic stands ninth in the race to the London final but is doing his best to keep his mind in the present.

“I would lie If I said I was not thinking about London,” said Tipsarevic, now 55-22 this season with a title from Stuttgart.

“It is in the back of my mind,

“But this is an important tournament for me. I’m trying not to think too far ahead. Doing so only created added pressure which is not helpful.

“I’m only thinking about my next match – I”m trying not to care about London right now.”

Tipsarevic is chased by rivals including Frenchman Richard Gasquet and trails provisional sixth Tomas Berdych, number seven – and Vienna top seed – Juan Martin del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Del Potro was playing his Vienna quarter-final against Australian Marinko Matosevic.

Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, who beat Austria’s two-time tournament champion Juergen Melzer in the second round, reached the semis over Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-4.