Del Potro reaches second Rotterdam final

ROTTERDAM: Juan Martin del Potro dispatched Bulgarian youngster Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday to move into his second straight Rotterdam World Tennis event final.

The Argentine winner, seeded second and now the top-ranked player left after Friday's shock elimination of Roger Federer by Julien Benneteau, will play either the Swiss star's conqueror or fifth seed Gilles Simon.

Del Potro, who lost the final to Federer here a year ago, lifted a pair of indoor titles last autumn in Vienna and Basel.

The Argentine fired six aces in his 75-minute win, breaking once per set in his tidy victory in a first meeting with the 21-year-old Dimitrov.

Del Potro will be playing in his 19th final at the ATP level.

He reached the final hurdle after holding serve in 40 games without a loss.

Dimitrov had been looking for his second career ATP final after losing in Brisbane last month to Andy Murray.

The Argentine improved to 6-1 this season while Dimitrov dropped to 9-5. (AFP)