Juan Martin Del Potro, the only man to break the Grand Slam stranglehold of the world's three top tennis stars since 2005, is closing the gap on the greats but still can't find that championship form.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic ended the Argentine seventh seed's run at the US Open on Thursday with a 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory.

"It's not easy when you fire your best weapon and the other guy returns all the serves," Del Potro said. "It's difficult when you have in front of you a warrior. He's playing better and better every day. He's the favorite to win this tournament. I saw him playing at a very high level for the three hours of the match and he has intensity to win all the matches."

Since the 2005 Australian Open, Djokovic, Spain's Rafael Nadal and Swiss legend Roger Federer have won 29 of 30 Grand Slam titles, missing out only when Del Potro upset Federer in five sets in the 2009 US Open final.

With Nadal injured and Federer ousted by Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych in a quarterfinal, this will be the first Slam since the 2004 French Open that will not feature Federer or Nadal in a semifinal, a run of 33 Slams in a row.

The door is open for British third seed Andy Murray, Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer or Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych to deny Djokovic and seize a moment as Del Potro did three years ago at Arthur Ashe Stadium and win a first Grand Slam title.

AFP

(China Daily 09/08/2012 page16)