Juan Martin del Potro: Strong Week in Stockholm, Wins Title
Juan Martin del Potro beat Jack Sock in the If Stockholm Open final. Del Potro defeated Sock to clinch his first ATP title of the season.
Juan Martin del Potro needed just two sets to prevail over Sock 7-5 6-1. The match lasted one hour and 16 minutes.
For the first time since the 2014 Apia International Sydney, del Potro made it all the way at an ATP event. It took almost three years for the 28-year-old to add a 19th singles title to his rich collection. His titles include the 2009 US Open Tennis Championship glory.
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Del Potro didn’t drop a single set on his way to winning the title at Stockholm. He defeated 4 top-30 players throughout the week, making the win even more impressive – John Isner, Ivo Karlovic, Grigor Dimitrov and Jack Sock. Nicolas Almagro, the 41st-ranked, was the remaining fifth player beaten by del Potro.
The title should improve the Argentine’s ranking, which sees him as the 63rd best player in the world right now. Del Potro is expected to find his place inside the top-50 on the next week’s ATP Rankings List.
Sock was also seeking to win his first ATP title this season, but he unfortunately fell one win short of achieving that goal. Earlier in 2016, Sock was runner-up in Auckland and in Houston. For now, the American will remain with one career title won, which came last year in Houston.
Del Potro has had success in Basel throughout his career as he was back-to-back champion in 2012 and 2013. Injuries prevented him from playing ever since at the event. Luckily, the city is set to host the ‘The Tower of Tandil’ once again.
It remains to be seen if Sock can improve upon, or at least repeat, last year’s success in Basel. The 24-year-old lost in the semi-finals to the eventual champion Roger Federer in 2015.
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