Delray Beach International Tennis Championships

It's del Potro vs. Tipsarevic in the finals of the Delray ITC

Mardy Fish lunges for a shot against Juan Martin del Potro in Saturday's Delray Beach semifinal play. Fish got the point but came up short in the match against del Potro.

By David Sedore, Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Juan Martin del Potro might not have his game back to where it was in 2009 when he defeated Raphael Nadel and Roger Fedderer in back to back matches to win the U.S. Open, but he's getting close.

Just ask Richard Berankis, Teymuraz Gabshvili, Kevin Anderson or Mardy Fish, the latest to fall to del Potro Saturday night in the semifinals of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. Del Potro beat the second-seeded Fish 6-1, 7-5, and will play Janko Tipsarevic for the title Sunday afternoon at 3.

"He obviously played some great points," Fish said of del Potro after the match. "All credit to him. He certainly played extremely well.

"It's pretty safe to say he's hitting pretty cleanly right now. He moves extremely well for is size."

Del Potro at 6-6 is the tallest player ever to win a grand slam tournament.

Del Potro finished 2009 ranked 4th in the world. He seemed destined to become No. 1, but a wrist injury and subsequent surgery kept him on the sidelines in 2010. Two weeks ago, he ranked 484, but made the semis in San Jose and Memphis, which brought his ranking down to 166 at the start of the Delray Beach tournament. Getting to the finals of this tournament is the next step in his recovery.

"It's amazing for me to come back and feel better day by day," del Potro said. "I'm really enjoying every day on the tour even if I lose. You never know what's going to happen in the future. After 2009, I was supposed to be No. 1. Then in 2010, everything went down."

Tipsarevic of Serbia, the tournament's No. 6 seed, defeated Kei Nickishori of Japan 6-4, 6-4 Saturday afternoon. it will Tipsarevic's third ATP final; he's yet to win one.

Fish said the Tipsarevic has one major advantage in that he played Saturday afternoon, giving him more time for rest and recovery. However, del Potro should have the advantage on the court.

The finals of the double competition begin at 1 p.m. The team of Americans Scott Lipsky/Rajeev Ram take on Christopher Kas of Germany and Alexander Peya of Austria.

Juan Martin del Potro against Mardy Fish Saturday night.