Deja vu for del Potro
August 10th 2009 11:25
ARGENTINE Juan Martin del Potro kicked off his US hardcourt season in style overnight with a three-set victory over hometown hero Andy Roddick in the final of the Washington Tennis Classic.
Most of del Potro’s countrymen thrive on the red dirt, but the world No.6 is rapidly establishing himself as one of the best hardcourt players in the world.
It was this time last year that the 20-year-old won four consecutive hardcourt titles, including Washington, en route to a quarter-final finish at the US Open.
There were doubts raised about del Potro’s mental toughness when he won just three games in a straight-sets loss to then world No.2 Roger Federer in the quarter-finals at January’s Australian Open.
A defeat of that manner could easily have scarred him, but del Potro got right back on the horse.
The pair has met twice since that fateful night – both for Federer victories – but it was del Potro’s semi-final showdown with the great Swiss at the French Open that showed how far he has come.
He led Federer two sets to one before losing in five and the latter went on to complete his grand slam collection two days later.
But del Potro was far from disgraced and unrecognisable to the player who embarrassed himself on the world stage at the Australian Open.
He is now a genuine US Open contender and cut Roddick’s rankings buffer over him to just 275 points.
Del Potro has a stack of points to defend in the coming weeks, but he proved last week that he is up to the challenge with tough triumphs over hardened competitors Lleyton Hewitt, Robin Soderling, Fernando Gonzalez and, finally, Roddick.
Roddick, the reigning Wimbledon finalist, can also be pleased with his week’s work.
He defeated three straight in-form big servers to reach the final in fellow American John Isner, Croatian Ivo Karlovic and another American Sam Querrey.
Roddick won’t be too disappointed not to have added a fourth Washington title to his resume.
Isner was the biggest mover inside the top 100, with a 25-spot rankings climb to a career-high No.55.
He has reached two semi-finals and a quarter-final in his last three starts and is set to cause plenty more headaches in the coming weeks.
Over on the WTA Tour, veteran Italian Flavia Pennetta denied Australian Sam Stosur a debut title with a 6-4 6-3 success in the Los Angeles Women’s Tennis Championships final.
Both players picked up a horde of big scalps during the week, but Pennetta proved too good in their first clash.
Pennetta has now won back-to-back events and also reached a semi-final in Bastad the week before, while Stosur slumped to 0-6 in WTA Tour finals.
But it seems inevitable that world No.17 Stosur will claim her maiden tour title and crack the top 10 at some stage in the next 12 months.
Consistency is still the powerful 25-year-old’s biggest problem, but her game seems to be coming together and wins over Dinara Safina and Serena Williams in recent times vouch for that.
Pennetta, meanwhile, moved to No.12 in the latest rankings – just one off her career-best standing from February this year.
She has finished inside the world’s top 100 players in each of the last seven years and, at 27, appears to be in as good form as ever.
The challenge is to improve her mediocre grand slam record.
Pennetta’s quarter-final showing at last year’s US Open remains her only venture into the last eight at that level.
She has reached the fourth round at least once at both the French Open and Wimbledon and has made the third round at the Australian Open twice.
Russian Maria Sharapova’s semi-final loss to Pennetta saw her leap 12 spots to No.49 and it would be surprising if the three-time grand slam champion was not a member of the top five again by year’s end.
This week's tournaments:
Cincinnati Open (WTA), United States, August 10-19 (defending champion: Nadia Petrova)
Montreal Cup (ATP), Canada, August 10-19 (defending champion: Rafael Nadal)
Most of del Potro’s countrymen thrive on the red dirt, but the world No.6 is rapidly establishing himself as one of the best hardcourt players in the world.
It was this time last year that the 20-year-old won four consecutive hardcourt titles, including Washington, en route to a quarter-final finish at the US Open.
There were doubts raised about del Potro’s mental toughness when he won just three games in a straight-sets loss to then world No.2 Roger Federer in the quarter-finals at January’s Australian Open.
A defeat of that manner could easily have scarred him, but del Potro got right back on the horse.
The pair has met twice since that fateful night – both for Federer victories – but it was del Potro’s semi-final showdown with the great Swiss at the French Open that showed how far he has come.
He led Federer two sets to one before losing in five and the latter went on to complete his grand slam collection two days later.
Argentine Juan Martin del Potro had plenty to celebrate after defending his Washington title against Andy Roddick overnight.
But del Potro was far from disgraced and unrecognisable to the player who embarrassed himself on the world stage at the Australian Open.
He is now a genuine US Open contender and cut Roddick’s rankings buffer over him to just 275 points.
Del Potro has a stack of points to defend in the coming weeks, but he proved last week that he is up to the challenge with tough triumphs over hardened competitors Lleyton Hewitt, Robin Soderling, Fernando Gonzalez and, finally, Roddick.
Roddick, the reigning Wimbledon finalist, can also be pleased with his week’s work.
He defeated three straight in-form big servers to reach the final in fellow American John Isner, Croatian Ivo Karlovic and another American Sam Querrey.
Roddick won’t be too disappointed not to have added a fourth Washington title to his resume.
Isner was the biggest mover inside the top 100, with a 25-spot rankings climb to a career-high No.55.
He has reached two semi-finals and a quarter-final in his last three starts and is set to cause plenty more headaches in the coming weeks.
Italian Flavia Pennetta proved too good for Australian Sam Stosur in winning her eight career WTA Tour title in Los Angeles.
Over on the WTA Tour, veteran Italian Flavia Pennetta denied Australian Sam Stosur a debut title with a 6-4 6-3 success in the Los Angeles Women’s Tennis Championships final.
Both players picked up a horde of big scalps during the week, but Pennetta proved too good in their first clash.
Pennetta has now won back-to-back events and also reached a semi-final in Bastad the week before, while Stosur slumped to 0-6 in WTA Tour finals.
But it seems inevitable that world No.17 Stosur will claim her maiden tour title and crack the top 10 at some stage in the next 12 months.
Consistency is still the powerful 25-year-old’s biggest problem, but her game seems to be coming together and wins over Dinara Safina and Serena Williams in recent times vouch for that.
Pennetta, meanwhile, moved to No.12 in the latest rankings – just one off her career-best standing from February this year.
She has finished inside the world’s top 100 players in each of the last seven years and, at 27, appears to be in as good form as ever.
The challenge is to improve her mediocre grand slam record.
Pennetta’s quarter-final showing at last year’s US Open remains her only venture into the last eight at that level.
She has reached the fourth round at least once at both the French Open and Wimbledon and has made the third round at the Australian Open twice.
Russian Maria Sharapova’s semi-final loss to Pennetta saw her leap 12 spots to No.49 and it would be surprising if the three-time grand slam champion was not a member of the top five again by year’s end.
This week's tournaments:
Cincinnati Open (WTA), United States, August 10-19 (defending champion: Nadia Petrova)
Montreal Cup (ATP), Canada, August 10-19 (defending champion: Rafael Nadal)
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