LONDON (AP) – Juan Martin del Potro faces some major challenges if he’s going to go any further at Wimbledon after reaching consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals for the first time since 2012.
First, on Wednesday he’ll take to the court for a third consecutive day amid concerns over his fitness. Second, his opponent will be two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal.
2009 U.S. Open champion Del Potro defeated Gilles Simon 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (5) in a match that was carried over to Tuesday to complete the men’s quarterfinal lineup at the All England Club.
The other matchups see defending champion Roger Federer against Kevin Anderson; Novak Djokovic takes on Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic meets John Isner in a matchup of big servers.
After reaching the French Open semifinals last month, Del Potro – who has missed long periods with a career-threatening left wrist injury – returned to his career-high ranking of No. 4 for the first time since February 2014, which he acknowledges is a “good signal”.