Juan Martin del Potro is surging, making up for lost time at Indian Wells

When Juan Martin del Potro won the US Open in 2009, there was a popular belief that the Argentinian with a big serve would one day in the no-so-distant future rise to the No. 1 ranking in the world.

At the time, Del Potro was 20 years old and ranked fourth. He had played in the French Open semifinals and the Australian Open quarterfinals earlier that year, and appeared to be just getting started.

But as the next few years passed, it was apparent that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were far from finished, and Novak Djokovic managed to sustain one of the most dominant runs in the history of the sport. Del Potro never reached the top spot, and by 2015 various wrist injuries forced him off the World Tour nearly into early retirement.

It’s now looking as though Del Potro, now 29, will again have his shot this year to finally claim the top spot in 2018, particularly after the run he’s had through the first three months this season.

With his 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber on Friday in the BNP Paribas Open, del Potro won his ninth consecutive match of the season to send him to the semifinals Saturday against Milos Raonic on Stadium Court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

More:Milos Raonic, always at home in the desert, outlasts Sam Querrey to earn semifinal berth

“I'm not thinking about quitting tennis now, but I was close to quitting tennis because I had three surgeries on my wrist, and I couldn't fix the problem,” del Potro said Friday.

“I got depressed at home for a long while, and I wasn't happy doing the effort to recover my wrist. In that moment of my life, I was trying to find a different way of my life. That's what I was thinking about, quitting tennis.

“But thank God I'm here and healthy, and I'm playing tennis again. I'm in the top 10 again. I have so much love from the crowd, for my fans, and I'm doing this because I love it.”

If del Potro can get past Raonic, he’ll play for his first Masters 1000 title, and perhaps get another shot at Federer, the current No. 1, in the final. Federer plays unseeded Borna Coric on Saturday in the other semifinal.

To get to this point in the draw, del Potro had to overcome some frustration and outlast the craftiness of Kohlschreiber, 34, in perhaps the most competitive match here of the last two weeks.

More:Roger Federer close to making more history at Indian Wells

More:At Indian Wells, Juan Martin del Potro is surging into the BNP Paribas Open

The smaller, quicker Kohlschreiber won a break point in the first set while leading 4-3, and chased down nearly every ball to hold serve to finish out the set as del Potro struggled to keep up with the ripping forehands and perfectly placed drop shots.

Kohlschreiber was quick and deadly accurate with his shots early, finding spots on the court where the 6-foot-6 del Potro couldn’t cover.

In his 83rd Masters 1000 tournament, Kohlscheiber had never reached a semifinal. It’s the longest such streak in men’s tennis. For a time, it appeared he would end the streak, he would get his third top 10 win in his last 40 attempts and would end his 12-match losing streak to top 10 players.

But it still wasn’t over, and del Potro’s awesome serve went from good to nearly untouchable. He fired off three aces in the second set and rallied to win the set after securing a break point in the eighth game that allowed him to serve for a 6-3 win.

Into the second set, Kohlschreiber saved two break points in the same game and held serve. Del Potro dropped his racket to the court, then later swung it at his red bag just off the court during the break in action.

In the fifth game of the third set, a game after blowing two break point opportunities and subsequently swinging his racket in frustration into his red duffle bag, del Potro finally secured a break point to take control of the set. He then overcame a love-40 deficit to hold serve and take a 4-2 lead before finishing out the match.

After the final point, he shook his fists and yelled in sweet relief as the crowd roared in the background.

He’s now in his first semifinal here at Indian Wells since 2013, before two separate 11-month absences following wrist surgeries.

He’s had to alter his game in his return, but he said this week that his overall game is better than it ever has been, and he said Friday after beating Kohlschreiber that he’s only looking forward from here.

“Everybody has to do efforts to get what you want, and I wanted to keep playing tennis,” he said. “I paid a very high price to do it, but I did it and I'm so happy to solve the problem.

“I'm staying here with this level.”