London, England (Sports Network) - Juan Martin del Potro earned the fourth
and final berth in Sunday's semifinals at the season-ending ATP World Tour
Finals by outlasting six-time tournament champion Roger Federer in three sets
during Saturday's final day of round-robin play.
Del Potro bested Federer, who had already secured a spot in the semifinal
round, by a 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3 score to advance. The accomplished Argentine
earned a pivotal break of the 17-time Grand Slam champion to go up 2-0 in the
final set, then held serve the rest of the way to conclude his Group B bracket
with an identical 2-1 record as Federer.
The Group B winner will be determined following the outcome of Saturday's
match between David Ferrer and Janko Tipsarevic. A victory by the fourth-
seeded Ferrer (1-1) would give Federer, who topped both Ferrer and Tipsarevic
earlier in the event, top honors in the pool, while the sixth-seeded del Potro
would obtain that distinction if No. 8 seed Tipsarevic (0-2) prevails.
Federer, seeded second, has claimed the title at this prestigious eight-player
event in each of the past two years.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic won the Group A bracket after going 3-0 in his
round-robin bouts, with third-seeded and crowd favorite Andy Murray also
advancing after the British Olympic champion posted a 2-1 overall mark.
The top two players from each group will appear in Sunday's semifinals, with
the winners squaring off in the lucrative finale Monday night.
The 2012 World Tour Finals champion can earn as much as $1.76 million.
The Sports Network