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Del Potro powers through in Rotterdam

Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina hits a return to Jeremy Chardy of France during their men's singles match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne /
By Theo Ruizenaar
updated 1:40 p.m. ET Feb. 15, 2013

ROTTERDAM (Reuters) - World number seven Juan Martin Del Potro stayed on course for his second successive appearance in the final of the World Indoor Tournament by sweeping aside Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 6-4 on Friday.

The Argentine, beaten in last year's final by Roger Federer, will play Grigor Dimitrov in the last four after the Bulgarian came from behind to defeat Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-7 7-6 6-3 in a thriller.

"There are no easy matches here," Del Potro told reporters. "Nieminen played some excellent forehands on important points and I had to stick to my game plan and be patient."

The 21-year-old Dimitrov looked down and out when he trailed 6-5 in the second set but he then reeled off 18 consecutive points to level the match, including taking the tiebreak 7-0, before going on to reach his final indoor semi-final.

"I can't remember ever scoring 18 straight points before and I didn't even notice it during the match," said the Bulgarian.

Top seed and defending champion Federer meets Frenchman Julien Benneteau in his quarter-final later on Friday.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

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