Del Potro beats Llodra in Open 13 final
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Juan Martin del Potro beat Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4 in the Open 13 final Sunday, defeating yet another French player and winning his first title of the season.
Del Potro, 2009 U.S. Open champion, briefly wobbled while down 0-30 and serving for the match, but the fourth-seeded Argentine closed it out when Llodra netted a forehand.
"This is something special for me. I'm very glad to win this tournament in my first (appearance)," he said. "I'm sorry I beat three French players in this tournament. I feel really happy to win here. I hope I can play again next year."
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Llodra, who won in Marseille in 2010, lost his serve once in each set and could not force a single break point chance against del Potro, who hit 11 aces to 10 for the Frenchman.
"He played really, really well today and I had no virtually no chances, except in the last game when he was 0-30 down," Llodra said. "It was a great game from him, and for my part I was a bit more tired than in recent days."
Del Potro lost to Roger Federer in his last two tournaments, including in the ABN Amro final last Sunday in Rotterdam, Netherlands — where he also beat Llodra in the first round.
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The 23-year-old del Potro raised his hands in the air, closed his eyes and then pumped his fists after beating Llodra.
"I'm getting older but I sometimes play more smart than three or four years ago," del Potro said. "Today was a really tough match, you need to play 100 percent. It's very tough when he serves and he plays good volleys, drop shots. Finally I closed the match with my serve and now I can breathe again."
Llodra looked strong on serve in a fast-paced opening set, but del Potro took a decisive advantage when he broke in the ninth game and held serve easily to win the first set.
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Del Potro broke Llodra in the fifth game of the second set and held for a 4-2 lead, meaning the 31-year-old Llodra had too much to do as he tried to vary his game.
Showing rare signs of pressure when serving for the match, del Potro quickly fell behind 0-30 — and faced pressure on his second serve on the next point — to briefly raise hopes of the French fans at the Palais des Sports.
But a strong second serve pinned Llodra behind the baseline and del Potro whipped a backhand inside the line to get back to 15-30. He then served an ace for 30-30.
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Llodra charged forward on the next point. His forehand sailed wide to give del Potro his first match point. After a brief rally, Llodra made an awkward return close to shoulder height and returned it weakly into the net.
"It's been a good week for me, although it's always frustrating to miss out," said Llodra, who has five career singles titles and 23 in doubles. "I'm a bit disappointed, but that's the way it goes."