August 19, 2008	Tuesday	Sha’aban 16, 1429

WASHINGTON, Aug 18: Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro beat Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3, 6-3 to win the ATP event in Washington on Sunday and claim his fourth successive title.

The second seed rallied from an early break down in the opening set to make it back-to-back hard-court titles and take his winning streak to 19 matches.

“Today I was very, very nervous because I was the favourite to win the tournament,” Del Potro said in an interview. “In a final, if you play your best you can win, for sure, but I think today I played more with my mind than my body.”

The Argentine, who won in Stuttgart, Kitzbuehel and last weekend in Los Angeles, is the first man in ATP Tour history to win his first four finals.

He is also set to rise from his ranking of 19th when the new list is published on Monday.

Having played eight matches in 10 days going into the final, Del Potro looked a little sluggish early on and world number 93 Troicki, who beat top seed Andy Roddick on his way to the final, took advantage.

Del Potro, 19, who struggled all day with his serve, hit one of seven double faults to hand Troicki a 3-1 lead.

After losing the first point of the next game, Del Potro took an angry swipe at the ball and the burst of anger seemed to shake him out of his lethargy.

The 22-year-old Troicki pushed a forehand wide to give Del Potro the break back and the Argentine repeated the feat two games later to move ahead 4-3.

Troicki then called the trainer for treatment on his lower back and when he returned, Del Potro held and then broke again to take the set.

For a moment, it looked as if Troicki would be forced to quit, but he came out for the second set and saved two break points in the second game.

The Serbian did not seem obviously affected by his back problem and games stayed on serve until the eighth when Del Potro snatched the break.

Del Potro’s nerve almost failed him when he squandered three match points as he served for the title, but he saved three break points before clinching victory with his fifth ace.

Troicki said his back problem had prevented him from being at his best, but paid credit to Del Potro.

“I am pretty sad that maybe I could not be quite at 100 percent today but he played great, winning another title,” the Serbian told reporters.

“Right now I am a little disappointed that I lost, but I am proud that I got to my first career final. I played great all week.”

PETROVA WINS FINAL

CINCINNATI (Ohio): Nadia Petrova clinched her first title for 18 months on Sunday, beating unseeded Nathalie Dechy of France 6-2, 6-1 to win the Cincinnati Open.

The second-seeded Russian cruised to victory in 70 minutes for her eighth career title but her first since February last year.

Dechy had upset former world number one Amelie Mauresmo in the semi-finals, but could not make any impression on Petrova, who produced one of her most consistent performances of late.

Petrova broke Dechy’s serve three times in each set to deny the Frenchwoman victory in what was her first WTA Tour final since 2004.—Reuters