With 19th straight win, 19-year-old wins fourth tournament in a row
Most fans at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic finals Sunday didn’t get what they wanted — an appearance by defending champion, and part-time bus driver, Andy Roddick.
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Instead they perhaps got something better — a look at the sport’s next big thing.
Six-foot-six Argentine Juan Martin del Potro is just that, literally and figuratively. Sunday the 19-year-old put an appropriate finish on a tournament he dominated, winning his 19th straight match and fourth straight ATP tournament, defeating Viktor Troicki of Serbia, 6-3, 6-3.
On a day when he said he didn’t play particularly well, Del Potro did it in 92 minutes with the weapons he flashed all week — his extraordinary agility, his 130 mph serve, and his devastating forehand, which paved the way at the end.
With Troicki hanging tough during a 16-point game, threatening to break del Potro’s serve and extend the match to a third set, the Argentine flicked an untouchable cross-court winner. On the next point, he fired his fifth ace to wrap up the match.
“It was very hard for me,” said del Potro, who made it look easy in the first set, breaking Troicki’s last three service games as the Serb struggled with a strained back.
Tennis fans will be interested to see if del Potro can keep his streak alive. He will fly to New Haven, but has not decided if he will play there in preparation for the U.S. Open. With five more wins, del Potro will match the longest streak by a teenager in the Open Era (since 1968). Rafael Nadal won 24 straight matches as a 19-year-old in 2005.
Doubles
» In just their second tournament together, Marc Gicquel of France and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden defeated Bruno Soares of Brazil and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe for the doubles title, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.
» Ullyett, 36, was bidding for his third Legg Mason doubles title. He has lost in the title match three of the last four years.
