del Potro Wins Third Citi Open Title in D.C.
The number one seed at the 2013 Citi Open, Juan Martin del Potro defeated John Isner 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to make it his third title in D.C. and his 14th consecutive win. When del Potro is healthy, there is not much that can stop him.
"His forehand is widely regarded as maybe the best in the world,” Isner said. ”I couldn’t do anything about it. I actually wasn’t really surprised. I’ve seen him do that a lot of times. That’s what he does. He’s got a lot of talent, and a lot of talent on that forehand side.”
In the summer of 2009, del Potro was able to follow up a win at the Citi Open with a win at the U.S. Open. “Fantastic memories,” del Potro said.
Del Potro arrived in Washington with a body that wasn’t 100 percent healthy. He hadn’t played a match since Wimbledon, when he lost a five-set, four-and-a-half hour match to world number one Novak Djokovic. He injured his left knee in the match and came to D.C. not knowing what his knee was capable of. Del Potro said he was surprised to win this tournament.
Del Potro’s semifinal match was delayed by rain and he didn’t get to sleep until about 12 hours before the finals were scheduled to begin.
Sunday was a perfect day for tennis and Isner started off well, using his serve to his best advantage. Within the first 10 minutes of the match, Isner was able to go up 3-1, and then soon to 5-2. In their last three meetings, Isner had not won a set against del Potro, so it wasn’t surprising that it took Isner five set points to win the set.
Del Potro took over in the second and third set, and maybe fatigue took over for Isner, who was playing his ninth match in 11 days and coming off a title win in Atlanta the week before. Isner thanked the chiropractor after the match, which earned a few laughs from the crowd.
Del Potro figured out the big serve of Isner and was able to break him three times in a row, winning seven games in a row, to take complete control of the match.
Isner had not even faced a break point in this tournament until this match with del Potro. Del Potro also held Isner to only six aces, who had 29 aces in his previous match.
"I’m sure that was his game plan, just to get my serve back and go from there,” Isner observed. ”He was standing so far back that the guy calling the sideline had to move out of the way.”
Del Potro earned his first break point of the match 35 minutes in, and after a 14-stroke rally, del Potro sailed a forehand long. Isner was able to hold one all in the second set, but after this, Isner would not win a game for awhile. A series of bad shots by Isner allowed del Potro to take control and put him up 3-1 in the second set. The final took one and a half hours to complete. This ended a run of 50 consecutive games won by Isner across four matches.
Del Potro’s next tournaments are in Montreal and Cincinnati. The U.S. Open starts in late August, where Isner knows that del Potro will be one of the favorites to win the tournament.
In the women’s final of the Citi Open, it was Magdalena Rybarikova winning her second consecutive title in D.C., defeating Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 7-6(2). Rybarikova is 10-0 in her matches at the Citi Open.
