Teenager Del Potro wins his first career tennis title in Stuttgart
Posted on July 14, 2008
Filed Under ATP
Unseeded Argentine teenager Juan Martin del Potro surprisingly but deservedly clinched his first ATP career title on Sunday when he beat French second seeded Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5 in the final of the Stuttgart clay-court tournament.
Along with his first title, Del Potro also collected a white luxury convertible presented by the tournament sponsor.
“This is incredible. I’ve dreamed of winning a tournament since I’ve been a kid and now I also get a car,” said Del Potro, aged 19, in an on-court interview. He drove the vehicle around the court after the awards ceremony and also picked up $186,853 as first prize.
“I congratulate Juan Martin but he’d better be careful, it’s a fast car,” Gasquet, world ranked 15, joked.
Del Potro showed resilience and steady nerves in both sets. The Argentinean broke serve for a 5-4 lead and served out the first set.
After a brief rain break, he again broke Gasquet’s serve to take a 6-5 lead and served out the match at love at the end of the second set to wrap up his first career title.
“I knew I had to serve well to win, and now I can just enjoy it.”
“For sure I want to congratulate him on his first title,” said Gasquet, a former world number seven who has gone 10 months since winning his fifth career title in Mumbai last September.
Gasquet admitted he had played badly. “I was frustrated but he played well. It was difficult to play my best tennis, the court was too slow.”
“I remember winning my first title and it’s an important step. I would say he has all it takes to make it into the top five.”
Del Potro, who entered the event ranked number 65, was also playing in his first final and he managed to beat four seeded players to win the tournament. The young Argentinean player succeeds world number two Rafael Nadal as champion of the Stuttgart tournament. Nadal pulled out of the tournament with a knee injury after winning an epic Wimbledon final over Roger Federer last weekend.
Comments
Leave a Reply