Argentine Del Potro batters Fish to reach LA final

Simon Cambers

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Argentine teenager Juan Martin Del Potro destroyed American Mardy Fish 6-2 6-1 to reach the final of the ATP event in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The third seed, ranked a career-high 24 in the world, next faces top seed Andy Roddick or unseeded German Denis Gremelmayr who play in the second semi-final later on Saturday.

Del Potro, who dominated Fish throughout the match, broke twice in each set to record his 13th consecutive win and reach his first hard-court final without dropping a set.

"I played unbelievable today," he said. "Mardy is a very good player but I didn't give him a chance to play. I prefer this surface and I want to win another tournament."

The Argentine then showed some refreshing honesty when asked who he would like to play in the final.

"I would prefer to play Gremelmayr for sure," he grinned. "But if I play Roddick it will be a good match for me -- I will just try to return his serve."

In perfect conditions, the 19-year-old Del Potro was the more aggressive player from the start, breaking in the third game as Fish made some uncharacteristic errors on the backhand, which is usually his more reliable side.

Every time sixth seed Fish pushed Del Potro out of position, the Argentine, winner in Stuttgart and Kitzbuhel last month, came up with something extra special, breaking again in the sixth game before serving out the set.

Del Potro broke again in the third game of the second set and, as Fish's head dropped, repeated the feat twice more to romp to an impressive victory over the American.

(Editing by Ken Ferris)