Story highlights
Juan Martin del Potro defeats Michael Llodra in the Marseille Open final
The fourth-seeded Argentine claims a 6-4 6-4 win for his 10th career title
It is del Potro's first indoor crown, after losing his previous three finals
Jurgen Melzer denies Milos Raonic a second successive title by winning the Memphis event
Argentine Juan Martin del Potro claimed the 10th ATP Tour title of his career, but his first indoors, with a straight-sets win over local favorite Michael Llodra in the Open 13 event in Marseille.
Del Potro – seeded four – only needed a break in each set to secure a 6-4 6-4 victory in just 83 minutes, ending a frustrating record on carpet which had seen him lose his previous three finals.
“Michael has a very difficult game to play against. He hits drop shots, he slices, so it’s not easy to play against him,” said the 23-year-old, who has now beaten 2010 Marseille champion Llodra in all their three meetings.
“All finals are special and you could see how nervous I was. When you win a title, it’s special and you really have to celebrate it.”
The 31-year-old Llodra paid tribute to his younger opponent, adding: “Juan Martin played a great match and didn’t give me any opportunities on his serve.
“I don’t have any regrets. He was just better than me even though I kept fighting until the end of the match.”
Meanwhile, Jurgen Melzer denied Milos Raonic a second successive title by winning the Memphis hard-court event on Sunday.
Raonic successfully defended his maiden ATP Tour title in San Jose last weekend, but the Canadian had to settle for runner-up spot in Memphis for the second year in a row after losing 7-5 7-6 (7-4) to the Austrian.
Former world No. 8 Melzer followed up his semifinal victory over American top seed John Isner and his earlier win over former finalist Radek Stepanek to claim his fourth ATP title.
“After a tough season last year, it’s obviously something nice. He’s probably the best server on tour at the moment. Sometimes you just walk left to right without doing anything, but I felt like when the ball was in play and when I had my chances, I played really solid,” Melzer said.
Raonic had dropped serve just once in 41 games before the final, where he fired another 22 aces for a tournament record of 88.
“He neutralised my serve better than anybody else the last two weeks,” said the 21-year-old, who lost to Andy Roddick in last year’s final before going on to win the ATP Tour’s newcomer of the year award.
“I just didn’t catch on early enough. He was pretty much taking it to me. He was playing very close and inside the line, while I felt I was quite far behind, so I was the one doing most of the running.”