Del Potro drops Nadal; Azarenka into final

Rafael Nadal's bid for his first Sony Ericsson Open title was ended by Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Del Potro had lost all nine sets in their four previous matches, but he was buoyed by a home-court advantage, with many transplanted Argentines in the crowd singing "Del-Po" between points.

"Wonderful for the crowd," top-ranked Nadal said. "Terrible for me."

Also drawing cheers was 19-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who earned a berth in the women's final by beating 2006 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

The No. 6-seeded del Potro's opponent on Friday will be the winner of the last quarterfinal between No. 4 Andy Murray and No. 8 Fernando Verdasco.

Del Potro showed patience in long rallies and used his looping forehand to keep Nadal deep as their three-hour match built to a dramatic finish. Nadal was up two breaks in the final set at 3-love, but del Potro climbed back into the match by winning 12 of the next 14 points.

"I played really bad all the time," Nadal said. "When I have it 3-love in the third, I played worse. It was amazing disaster."

When Nadal lost serve for the second consecutive time for 3-all, del Potro let loose a primal scream. There was more noise to come.

In the 12th game of the set, Nadal saved three match points, two with aces. He caught a break in the tiebreaker when his return skipped along the net cord before clearing it for a winner and a 3-2 lead.

That was the last point Nadal won. Del Potro hit three consecutive winners to go up 6-3, and on the final point Nadal put a backhand in the net as the crowd erupted one last time.

Nadal, a six-time Grand Slam champion, won at Indian Wells two weeks ago, but his best finish at Key Biscayne was as the runner-up in 2005 and 2008.

"I didn't play well during this tournament," Nadal said. "I didn't adapt well. I played really bad."

Azarenka kept waving clenched fists during her semifinal, as if there was any doubt she meant business. Celebrating every important point she won, the teenager earned her biggest victory yet.

She'll play for the title on Saturday against the winner of the late semifinal between Serena and Venus Williams.

"It's the first final in such a big tournament for me," Azarenka said. "It's the biggest moment, I would say, in my career. It's all kind of an experience for me. It's a new thing that I'm going to be introduced to on how to handle."

Azarenka closed out the victory on her fourth match point when Kuznetsova netted a backhand to end the 2-hour, 40-minute endurance test played in 85-degree (30-degree C) sunshine.

"I'm just so happy that I found energy in that fighting moment," Azarenka said. "That was kind of adrenaline, I would say, on the last games."

Azarenka was ranked a career-best 10th after reaching the semifinals at Indian Wells.