Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro beat Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3, 6-3 to win the ATP event in Washington on Sunday and claim his fourth successive title. The second seed rallied from an early break down in the opening set to make it back-to-back hard-court titles and take his winning streak to 19 matches. “Today I was very, very nervous because I was the favorite to win the tournament,” Del Potro said in a television interview. “In a final, if you play your best you can win, for sure, but I think today I played more with my mind than my body.” The Argentine, who won in Stuttgart, Kitzbuehel and last weekend in Los Angeles, is the first man in ATP Tour history to win his first four finals. He is also set to rise from his ranking of 19th when the new list is published on Monday. Having played eight matches in 10 days going into the final, Del Potro looked a little sluggish early on and world number 93 Troicki, who beat top seed Andy Roddick on his way to the final, took advantage. Del Potro, 19, who struggled all day with his serve, hit one of seven double faults to hand Troicki a 3-1 lead. After losing the first point of the next game, Del Potro took an angry swipe at the ball and the burst of anger seemed to shake him out of his lethargy. The 22-year-old Troicki pushed a forehand wide to give Del Potro the break back and the Argentine repeated the feat two games later to move ahead 4-3. Troicki then called the trainer for treatment on his lower back and when he returned, Del Potro held and then broke again to take the set. For a moment, it looked as if Troicki would be forced to quit, but he came out for the second set and saved two break points in the second game. The Serbian did not seem obviously affected by his back problem and games stayed on serve until the eighth when Del Potro snatched the break. Del Potro's nerve almost failed him when he squandered three match points as he served for the title, but he saved three break points before clinching victory with his fifth ace. He earned $80,650 in first place prize money. Petrova rolls over Dechy In Cincinnati, Russia's Nadia Petrova dominated Nathalie Dechy 6-2, 6-1 in the final of the $175,000 WTA Western and Southern Financial Group Open for her first title of 2008. The second-seeded Russian posted her first victory since February of last year in Paris. She needed just 70 minutes to dispatch Dechy who committed four double faults. Petrova broke Dechy's serve six times in improving to 6-2 lifetime against the Frenchwoman. She pocketted $28,000 in first place prize money. Petrova fired three aces and saved four of 10 break point chances. She also won 69 percent of her first serve points and attacked Dechy's second serve. Petrova hopes to carry the momentum over into the US Open which begins in eight days. – Agencies __
