BENNETEAU, Del potro in ABN AMRO FINAL 

Courtesy of Official ABN AMRO WEBSITE

Julien Benneteau and Juan Martin del Potro will decide who will become the winner of the 40th edition of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. After his sensational victory over Roger Federer, the Frenchman again caused a surprise in the semi-final by beating fifth-seeded Gilles Simon: 6-4, 7-6 (2).

The final against Del Potro will be Benneteau’s eight ever in the ATP World Tour. However, on all seven previous occasions the Frenchman ended empty-handed.

In the opening set both players reached a high level. Until the ninth game they kept their service games quite easily. Then Simon, number fourteen of the world, got broken by Benneteau who after that took the set win. "I didn’t reach the level of my match against Roger Federer, but I don’t care, I’m in the final”, Benneteau stated afterwards. “It was a tough match. It’s never easy to play against someone you know well. I sometimes practice with Gilles and we’re both on the French Davis Cup team."

In the first game of the second set it looked like Simon was going to retire. He reached out for his hamstring. It was the first sign of an injury. After the fifth game, with a 3-2 lead, he received treatment by a physiotherapist outside the court. Simon showed resilience, but in the tiebreak Benneteau was too strong.

Del Potro and Benneteau have never met before at the ATP World Tour. Benneteau: "Against a top ten player like Del Potro I’ve got nothing to lose. Rotterdam is a nice place for my first tournament win."

French tennis players historically perform well in Ahoy. In the past players like Cedric Pioline (2000), Nicolas Escudé (2001 and 2002) and Michael Llodra (2008) triumphed in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. Benneteau could be the fourth French player to do so.

Like on facebook

Follow on Twitter