Sunderland Echo

Del Potro shines again in Stockholm

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Juan Martin del Potro successful­ly defended his Intrum Stockholm Open title with a straight-sets victory over Grigor Dimitrov in yesterday’s final.

Del Potro, who survived a marathon semi-final encounter with Fernando Verdasco on Saturday, needed just 83 minutes to run out a 6-4 6-2 winner and secure his first tournament of the season.

“I played the best match of the week against Grigor today. Unlucky for that, sorry Grigor,” said Del Potro, who fired nine aces and saved all four break points he faced.

“It’s amazing to come back and hold this big trophy and hopefully I can come next year as well. I love to be in Stockholm. “I like the city a lot.” In Antwerp, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga claimed his fourth ATP World Tour title of the season with a straight-sets win over Diego Schwartzma­n in the final of the European Open.

Tsonga, who ended the hopes of home favourite Ruben Bemelmans in the semi-finals, beat Argentina’s Schwartzma­n 6-3 7-5 to boost his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals in London.

The Frenchman is 550 points behind Pablo Carreno Busta, who currently holds the final qualificat­ion spot, but will look to make up more ground at the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna, where he is the eighth seed.

In Moscow, Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur claimed his second title of the season with a hardfought victory over Ricardas Berankis in the Kremlin Cup.

Dzumhur cruised through the opening set but lost the second before battling to a 6-2 1-6 6-4 victory in 99 minutes.

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