Del Potro beats Goffin, to face Nishikori in quarters

Argentine wildcard Juan Martin del Potro defeated fifth-seeded Belgian David Goffin 7-5, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors and will take on Japan's Kei Nishikori.

Del Potro, who appears to have put a series of injury problems behind him and has been making a charge up the rankings in recent weeks, succeeded in imposing his lethal forehand on the fleet-footed Goffin to take the contest in an hour and a half and win his seventh straight match here on Thursday.

The Argentine made Goffin pay for missing his first serve, winning 68 percent of the Belgian's second-serve points. He also was better on the big points, saving all four break points he faced and converting two of the four break points he created.

The World No.42, a former US Open champion whose career was derailed by wrist injuries for several years, made an inspiring run to the final of the men's singles at the Rio Olympics, reached the quarterfinals of this year's US Open and won a hard-court event last week in Stockholm.

He has won all four of his previous matches against the fifth-ranked Nishikori, all in straight sets, although the two have not played since the London Olympics in 2012.

Swiss World No.3 and top seed Stan Wawrinka, Croatian No.4 seed Marin Cilic, Spain's Marcel Granollers, Luxembourg's Gilles Muller and German qualifier Mischa Zverev also advanced to the quarterfinals with victories on Thursday.

--IANS

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