Indefatigable Argentine Guillermo Canas became the first qualifier to ever reach the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami after defeating Tommy Robredo 7-6(5), 6-1 Thursday night to set up a clash with Ivan Ljubicic. In the process Canas improved his perfect record against Top 10 players in 2007 to 4-0.
In the first set against Robredo, Canas was unable to convert all eight break point opportunities, including one set point at 5/4 and three set points at 6/5. But he wasn't flustered by the missed opportunities and after winning the tie-break he broke Robredo in the first and third games, and also converted his third break point chance of the second set to close out the match.
"It was great to win the first set, because after that I feel more confidence, and he go down," Canas said following the 1-hour, 36-minute win. "But really I have a lot of chances and I didn't take it. Sometimes it's tough to recover after that."
The 29-year-old has taken the long road to reach the semis, needing to win two qualifying matches to make the main draw and three of his five main-draw victories have gone the distance including a 7-6(2), 2-6, 7-6(5) thriller over World No. 1 Roger Federer in the fourth round.
"I try to learn from the last time," added Canas. "Because it was tough to me to get into the court after I beat Roger in Indian Wells. But here I tried to be focused. I tried to be concentrate because I think Tommy is tough for me. He's a tough match for any player."
The Buenos Aires native is off to a career-best 16-3 start this season (7-1 on hard), having captured his seventh career ATP title on clay in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil last month (d. Ferrero). He also led his country to a first round Davis Cup win over Austria by winning both of his singles matches (d. Melzer, Peya).
Canas opened the season with a Challenger title in Sao Paulo (d. Hartfield) without dropping a set. He has climbed from No. 143 at the end of last season to No. 55 and may break into the Top 40 by reaching the Miami semifinals.
The last time a qualifier advanced to a Masters Series final was Richard Gasquet at 2005 Hamburg, and the last to win a title was Albert Portas at 2001 Hamburg.
Canas's opponent Friday night is Ivan Ljubicic, who moved to within reach of a second consecutive appearance in the Miami final after defeating Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 7-5.
"I think I played Caņas once, here, seven years ago, maybe," said Ljubicic. "It was a long time ago. But that match doesn't mean anything. I saw him with Roger the other day, and I saw him. He is rock solid on the baseline. His short swings, he's not missing anything. You give him a short ball, he can go for it."
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