Del Potro ousts Baker for spot in Swiss Indoors quarterfinal

Basel, Switzerland (4E Sports) – Second seed Juan Martin del Potro remained on course for his 13th career title after dismissing American Brian Baker, 7-5, 6-1, in their second-round match Thursday at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

Del Potro fired 10 aces and did not face a break point against the American to finish the match in 78 minutes and grab a place in the quarterfinal round.

“The beginning was tough for me,” said del Potro. “He played much better than me in the first couple games. He was aggressive, trying to hit a fast ball. In the second set, I found a rhythm in the match and my game started to be more aggressive.

In the quarterfinal, del Potro will take on Kevin Anderson, who defeated Marinko Matosevic, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

Later in the day, del Potro learned that he officially qualified for the 2012 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from November 5-12 following Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal due to injury.

He became the sixth player to qualify, joining Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych.

“For me it’s a gift for my effort during the year,” said the 2009 US Open champion and current ATP World No.8. “Being in that tournament means a lot. It’s only eight players fighting for one tournament. It’s the best eight players of the year, so it’s very important to me.”

Just two berths are up for grabs, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Janko Tipsarevic, Richard Gasquet and Nicolas Almagro in contention.

In other matches, France’s Benoit Paire has sealed a quarterfinal clash with world No. 1 and five-time champion Roger Federer after beating Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot, 6-4, 6-4, in 87 minutes.

Sixth seed Mikhail Youzhny beat Matthew Ebden of Australia, 6-3, 6-1, while Paul-Henri Mathieu battled past former world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4, in two hours and 17 minutes.

At the Valencia Open 500, world No. 5 David Ferrer cruised to the quarterfinal with an easy 6-4, 6-2 victory over countryman Albert Ramos.

For a spot in the semifinal, Ferrer will battle compatriot Nicolas Almagro, who defeated Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-0.

Reigning champion Marcel Granollers also advanced to the quarterfinal after rallying past Gilles Simon, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2, in two hours and 34 minutes.

In the quarterfinal, Granollers will play Alexandr Dolgopolov, who ousted Gilles Muller, 6-4, 6-4.

Austrian Jurgen Melzer broke a two-match losing streak against Xavier Malisse of Belgium with a 7-5, 6-2 win in 73 minutes.

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