The Farmers Classic has turned into a (nearly) all-American affair.
The U.S. Open Series event will feature some home-grown talent in the semifinals, as top-seeded Mardy Fish, teenager Ryan Harrison and world No. 64 Alex Bogomolov Jr. all advanced in quarterfinal matches Friday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Juan Martin Del Potro won’t be joining the American trio. The 2009 U.S. Open champion and No. 2 seed in the tournament left Los Angeles with just one win three years after winning it all. Del Potro fell to Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, who matched Del Potro’s power and then some in a 6-2, 6-4 win.
Fish and Harrison set up a rematch of the semifinals in last week’s series event in Atlanta, while Bogomolov made his first-ever semifinal by coming back from a set and a break down to stun No. 4 seed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil.
It’s encouraging for the U.S. since the search for a great American men’s tennis player has been ongoing for years (UCLA’s Daniel Kosakowski in the round of 16. He will move on to face Bogomolov, his doubles partner. The pair lost in the first round of the doubles tournament on Wednesday.