Del Potro sets up Nadal final
Juan Martin Del Potro handed Novak Djokovic his first defeat of the season to book his place in the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
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Del Potro followed up his quarter-final win over Andy Murray with a 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory over the world number one to seal a final showdown with Rafael Nadal.
Murray did not break Del Potro once in his defeat, but Djokovic succeeded where the world number three had failed to take the first set.
His opponent upped his game in the second and the backhand slice which had so troubled Murray also seemed to fox Djokovic.
Del Potro broke three times to take the second set, but still appeared to heading out of the tournament when he fell 3-0 down in the third.
The Argentinian stormed back, however, and sealed the win to end Djokovic's 22-match winning streak with an ace.
Nadal, meanwhile, reached his fourth straight final after returning from seven months out with knee problems by beating Tomas Berdych 6-4 7-5.
Nadal was on top throughout but needed to win four games in a row to take the second set after double-faulting to but put his opponent 5-3 up.
Even as he served for the match, Nadal was forced to save four break points before finally prevailing.
"I was very nervous at the end of the match and was lucky that my serve worked amazing in the last game in the important moments," he told www.atptour.com.
"There are some things that you need to adjust, and victories like today help a lot for [my] confidence."
Del Potro has not beaten Nadal since overcoming him in the semi-finals of the 2009 US Open, when he went on to beat Roger Federer in the final for his only grand slam victory to date.
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