ATP Tennis- Defending Champion Juan Martin Del Potro Beat Roddick in Legg Mason Classic Final

After winning the Legg Mason Classic last year, the 20-year-old Argentine Juan Martin del Potro repeated the feat this year after defeating the American Andy Roddick 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (6) during a hot Sunday. This title is Del Potro’s second this year and the sixth of his professional career. With this triumph, Del Potro is the first player since Andre Agassi to win the Legg Mason Classic twice in a row. Del Potro’s win also marks the first time Roddick has lost the Legg Mason Classic; the American won in 2001, 2005 and 2007. The two players, at world 5th and 6th, have met twice during a final, and the Argentine won both times. Initially during the final in Washington, however, del Potro had difficulties with the heat, unable to handle his game because of the weather. He went on to lose the first set 3-6. After the bad start, however, the Argentine rallied, taking the second set to a tiebreak; despite having trouble with his serve and repeatedly double-faulting, del Potro won the second set 7-5. In the third set, both players struggled to control the action and both fought consistently to win. Del Potro lost his serve for the third time in the match during the third game of the final set, giving Roddick a 2-1 lead. Roddick, however, then double-faulted on a break point, bringing the set to a tie 3-all. After that, both players held their serves until the tiebreak. During the tiebreak, the Argentine made several aces that would, end the end, give him the victory. The tiebreak ended with del Potro’s forehand winner; the ball barely hit the boundary line to complete a 7-6 set with an 8-6 tiebreak win. During the match, Roddick had 20 unforced errors and 44 winners while del Potro had 32 errors and 55 winners. The key to the game was luck: despite Del Potro’s several double-faults, the Argentine broke Roddick’s serve in the right moments. "It's bad for your mind. I did many double-faults, but I always was thinking to keep trying to the final, and if I did good returns, maybe I'll have the chance to break his serve, and I did. We play until the tiebreaker, and then I did the best service of my life," said del Potro. On the other hand, Roddick said that despite his loss, the Legg Mason Classic was good preparation for the U.S Open. The American said he felt good after not playing for a month due to the hip flexor injury he suffered after his Wimbledon final against Roger Federer. "You look at the end and you are plus 24 winners to errors and close to 70 percent and 20 aces and my fitness held up. Those are all encouraging signs. I am going to take a lot more good than bad away from this week, especially heading into these next couple of events," stated the world number 5. Now, the next tournament before the US Open is the Rogers Cup in Montreal, from August 10th to August 16th.