TENNIS WORLD

Seventh-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro (pictured) capped a marvelous two weeks by defeating No. 6 seed and home favorite Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 6-1 at the Austrian Open in Kitzbuhel on Sunday to capture his second straight ATP singles title.
Last week, the 19-year-old del Potro claimed his maiden ATP singles title at Stuttgart, defeating World No. 15 Richard Gasquet in the final. He becomes just the second player after Rafael Nadal (Monte-Carlo – Barcelona; Roland Garros – Queen’s Club) to win back-to-back ATP tournaments this season.
"It's another dream for me, another tournament," said del Potro. "In two weeks I played ten matches and won all of them. This week I didn't lose a set so I'm very happy. I have served very well both weeks and I think I changed a little bit my mind, I was always concentrating. When you play big matches you have to be focussed all the time and now I am getting focussed on the important points and that's the difference."
The Tandil resident also becomes the fourth consecutive Argentine winner at Kitzbuhel, joining Juan Monaco (2007), Agustin Calleri (’06) and Gaston Gaudio (‘05). Guillermo Coria’s victory in 2003 makes del Potro the fifth Argentine winner in the past six years.
The Argentine is now projected to move up into the Top 30 of the South African Airways ATP Rankings for the first time. "I have to continue in this way, I don't have to change anything so I'm just going to work and work and wait for more results," said del Potro.
The right-hander, who is making his event debut in Kitzbuhel, capitalized on five of 10 break point opportunities against Melzer, breaking twice in the first set and three times in the second, and dropped just six points on serve throughout in a stunning performances as he cruised to victory in just 59 minutes. His tournament record now stands at 5-0.
Currently level with his career-high at No. 44 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, del Potro has also made a semifinal exit at ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Ferrer) and a quarterfinal appearance in Munich (l. to El Aynaoui) to add to his two titles. He improves his season match record to 19-8.
The 27-year-old Melzer slips to a 1-6 lifetime record in ATP singles finals; his lone victory came at 2006 Bucharest (d. Volandri). He was contesting his first final since 2007 Las Vegas, where he finished runner-up to Lleyton Hewitt.
The Vienna native is the first Austrian to reach the Kitzbuhel singles final since Thomas Muster finished runner-up to Albert Costa in 1995. The left-hander was bidding to become the first home champion since Muster’s triumph in 1993.
"Of course it's disappointing to lose a final, especially when it's at home, but Juan Martin played unbelievably, he didn't miss a ball and I was struggling from the beginning," confessed Melzer. "6-2, 6-1 is a tough loss, but I think he deserves it. I've always struggled to play in Kitzbuhel and being in the final this year is a very special thing for me and having had the chance to take the title home would have been really great."
World No. 65 Melzer, who made quarterfinal exits at Poertschach (l. Kunistyn) and ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Gicquel) earlier in the season, slips to 18-18 for the season. He has now lost his past 14 of 16 matches against Argentine opponents, and has slumped to three straight losses against del Potro.