He was more joking than simmering but Juan Martin del Potro reckons he was close to having his Marcos Baghdatis moment at the Sydney International on Thursday.
The towering Argentine won through to the semi-finals with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 win over Czech Radek Stepanek 6-4 3-6 6-3.
But the wily Stepanek, who has featured in the top 100 for the past 12 years, managed to frustrate del Potro in the second set, to the point where the usually impeccably behaved 2009 US Open champion thought he might lose it.
“Yeah, I was close, but I can’t do that yet. When I get eight or ten racquets, I will smash all of them,” del Potro said with a smile.
“I will talk with the chair umpire to not call me a code violation or something. I have to be allowed to do that after two years.”
Baghdatis became a Youtube hit when he demolished four racquets courtside at the 2012 Australian Open, his antics registering 1.7 million views.
With his big serve and ripping crosscourt forehand, del Potro took charge in the third set against Stepanek to qualify for the last four, a single break of serve enough to secure the result.
The top seed has had thorough workouts in his two matches so far in Sydney, his first-up match against Nicolas Mahut also going three sets.
He’ll play Russian Dmitry Tursunov who enjoyed a 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 win over Uzbek Denis Istomin.
Bernard Tomic and Marinko Matosevic could set up a dream all-Australian semi-final if the pair win their quarter-final fixtures on Thursday night.
Defending champion Tomic takes on Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov while wildcard Matosevic plays qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky.