KEY POINTS:
Top seed Juan Martin Del Potro repulsed the challenge of American Sam Querrey to win the Heineken Open tennis tournament in Auckland today.
The Argentinian played the big points a little better than Querrey to win the match 6-4 6-4 in one hour 24 minutes.
In a first
set which was frequently of high quality, Del Potro gained an immediate advantage with a break in the first game.
Querrey got back into the match with a break in the sixth game, and held to take a 4-3 lead in the seventh, but Del Potro then rattled off the three consecutive games to win the set.
The world No 9 struggled to serve out the set, with Querrey saving three set points, including one where a line umpire corrected a call she made in Querrey's favour.
However, a missed backhand down the line by Querrey ensured Del Potro converted his fourth set point.
Querrey and Del Potro both had chances in the second set, each giving their opponent three opportunities to break serve.
But it was Del Potro who took his chance to break in the ninth game, and he produced a clinical service game in the 10th to take the match, to the delight of a small but vocal Argentinian contingent courtside.
Earlier in the day, top seeds Martin Damm and Robert Lindstedt won the Heineken Open's doubles title.
Damm, of the Czech Republic, and Lindstedt, of Sweden, were too polished for Leander Paes, of India, and American Scott Lipsky in winning 7-5 6-4 in 1-1/4 hours.
Both combinations had their chance to break serve in the first set but it was Damm and Lindstedt who secured the only break.
They broke Paes' serve in the 11th game and won their first set point with an ace.
Damm and Lindstedt continued their dominance in the second set, breaking Lipsky's serve in the fifth game.
They failed to convert three match points on Lipsky's serve in the ninth game but won at their first opportunity the following game to secure their first title together.
"Every title is great," Damm said.
"It doesn't matter which tournament you win, a win is a win.
"It's especially good for us now, we are a new combination."
Damm, 36, had previously won 37 doubles titles and Lindstedt, 31, had won four.
- NZPA
