Del Potro, Murray ousted in Rotterdam QFs

Rotterdam, The Netherlands (SportsNetwork.com) - Top seed and defending champion Juan Martin del Potro and second seed and former titlist Andy Murray each came up quarterfinal losers Friday at the $1.85 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.

Capable Latvian Ernests Gulbis took down the tall Argentine star del Potro 6-3, 6-4, while hot Marin Cilic, fresh off his indoor title in Zagreb in his native Croatia last week, toppled Murray 6-3, 6-4 on the indoor hardcourts at Ahoy Rotterdam.

"It's nice to have beaten the defending champion, but actually it doesn't matter to me who won last year or 10 years ago," Gulbis said after dismissing del Potro. "I'm through to the semifinals, and that's the most important."

Del Potro, who took a medical timeout after the first set, is on the mend from a wrist injury. The former U.S. Open champ beat Frenchman Julien Benneteau in last year's finale and was the Rotterdam runner-up in 2012. The reigning Wimbledon champion Murray titled here in 2009.

Murray hasn't reached a final anywhere since capturing his first Wimbledon title last July.

Also on Day 5, third-seeded Tomas Berdych came from behind to beat 6-foot-8 Pole Jerzy Janowicz 6-7 (9-11), 6-2, 6-4 and secure a berth in Saturday's semis, while Dutch crowd favorite Igor Sijsling outlasted German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

The semifinals will pit Berdych against Gulbis and Cilic versus the wild card Sijsling.