Roger Federer Beats Juan Martin Del Potro To Win ABN Amro World Tennis Title

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Roger Federer defeated Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 6-4 Sunday to win the ABN Amro World Tennis for his first title of the year.

The top-seeded Federer jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first set, with Del Potro making uncharacteristic errors. Del Potro, who beat Federer in the 2009 U.S. Open final, took a 2-1 lead in the second set before Federer won five of the next seven games to close the match.

"For me, it all began in 1999 when I reached the quarterfinals here," Federer said. "Even now, the expectations were high throughout the tournament. I am happy I was able to fulfill the expectations."

The Swiss star was making his first appearance in Rotterdam since winning the 2005 title. Del Potro, seeded third, was playing in the tournament for the first time.

Del Potro won just seven points on his serve in the first set. While the Argentine's game improved in the second, he couldn't find a way to beat Federer on the key points.

Federer, who beat Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals, took a 4-2 lead before serving out the match to win his 71st career title. He saved all seven break points he faced and broke Del Potro three times.

"I have managed to restore my rhythm," Federer said. "The match against Davydenko was a good warmup for the match against Del Potro."

Comments

[Marc Driftmeyer]

08:03 AM on 02/21/2012

My biggest disappointment about Roger is his desire to play a base line game when he clearly needs to shorten points and no one but he can play the net worthy of being considered a great, yet he continues to fluff a lot of his slice back hands play with guys when it clearly doesn't work with Nadal or Novak.

He has all the skills to put his boot on their throats and drive them into the ground with a serve and volley game.

I'm not asking for 150 approach shots, but 60-70 would make a world of difference to getting more majors.

Sampras is second only to McEnroe for a true serve/volley master and if he needed an ace he always got one.

He got bored and disinterested in the sport when he could have dedicated himself like an Agassi and owned the tour for another 3-5 years. Don't do the same. Pete skipped the Australian for 10 years.

I get even more frustrated when they compare this generation of talent to the era of Becker, Lendl, Sampras, Agassi, Edberg, Wilander, Ivanisovic, Courier, who all had to beat each other to win a slam.

Today, you've got Novak, Rafael, Roger and possibly Andy Murray. A far cry from the hey day and I'm not even including a dozen other guys who were monster killers from time to time.

Give us fans a serious group of challenges instead of boring us to death with baseline only play.

[Bruckley]

05:48 PM on 02/25/2012

The problem is that baseline duels are quite thrilling -- the last thing the Tour wants to see is 3-shot serve and volley rallies. People don't tune in for those.

[jumpinjezebel]

01:00 PM on 02/20/2012

Roger seems the very definition of a "Class Act" - something other sports stars should study closely.

[columbusbuck]

03:38 AM on 02/20/2012

Got to go where you can win I guess.

[blacklace382]

09:30 AM on 02/20/2012

lol, so you think Del Potro and Berdych aer sub par tennis players?

[J0E1]

10:53 AM on 02/20/2012

Anyone ranked 5th or worse is almost a sure thing for Federer.

[columbusbuck]

02:43 PM on 02/20/2012

They're not Djokovic or Nadal.

[jhoughton1]

01:01 PM on 02/20/2012

You had to say that...because?

[Donna Schra]

11:42 PM on 02/19/2012

Rogers life personally has changed in big ways the last couple of years, and whether you think they affect you or not, it does, especially when the man's character is one that makes him be an active Father, not just of one baby but twins, and a good husband, not one who is there in name only. Add to that some nagging injuries, sometimes these are worse than a major one because you are never sure when it is healed until you play and then oops, like his back. He has dropped his weight, and his stamina seemed up in Australia, I still have good thoughts that he can have a banner year one more time in his career, and because he loves the game so much, there is no reason for him to quit just because he can't be number one anymore. He isn't that old to retire, he is still supporting his family and making money for good causes, and I hope he continues as long as he wants, not the words of fans!

[john bruno]

08:50 PM on 02/19/2012

Roger is on the downhill of his career.

Next opponent, Maria Navratilova, in Los Angeles.

[Iggy Toole]

09:11 PM on 02/19/2012

Lulz! You mean he will play a woman. What wit! You should write headlines for espn.

[tmqharley]

11:02 PM on 02/19/2012

i think you meant "martina" not maria.

[pastgone]

08:34 PM on 02/19/2012

Gotta love the Fed

[skaggsdn]

06:10 PM on 02/19/2012

Wacthing Federer play tennis is enjoyable because of the variety of hi game. He is not a one dimensional player. He can slice it, dice it, drop it, lob it or anything else he wants to do with the tennis ball. Watching only a big server play is about as much fun as watching grass grow.

[getalittlesneakpeek]

05:07 PM on 02/19/2012

Roger Federer is just a class act.

[R Car]

10:53 PM on 02/19/2012

x2

[Timi Gladfelter Berge]

03:21 PM on 02/19/2012

Im hoping that Roger has a banner year and ends the tennis season as number 1. Go Fed!!!

[keith w oliver]

04:23 PM on 02/19/2012

me too!!
he's off to a decent start ... f/f

[david91722]

03:50 AM on 02/20/2012

The only way that will happen is he stays healthy, and both Rafa and Djokovic get injured along the way.

[Timi Gladfelter Berge]

05:38 PM on 02/23/2012

Don't be too sure about that. Roger ended the 2011 on a high note and it looks like its carrying over to 2012. His shot-making has been awesome. He just has to get right in his head when he plays Rafa or Nola.

[OzGirl]

03:08 PM on 02/19/2012

He is poetry in motion --- he's a class act. My kids play tennis and it's so great to have Roger as a role model they can look up to. I'd love to see him win another Slam!

[keith w oliver]

04:26 PM on 02/19/2012

he really is a good model.
i played tennis very early on, and my models let to some wonderful rivalries and fun watching with the family, but i am talking about ilie nastase, johnny mac, connors, lendl, etc., so i learned to argue before i learned to volly

yannick noah was my man, and federer would have been had i been born a little later....
congrats to him!
f/f

[ptrgamb]

01:54 PM on 02/19/2012

Always nice to see him win. I'd like to see him win one more Wimbledon

[keith w oliver]

04:27 PM on 02/19/2012

i would *love love* to see him take roland garros ... f/f

[MikePin]

01:31 PM on 02/19/2012

This is good, but it's obvious it only happened because Djokovic and Nadal weren't there, as otherwise Roger wouldn't have been the top seed. He must demonstrate he can now in 2012 beat those two, and it is doubtful he can.

[Timi Gladfelter Berge]

03:26 PM on 02/19/2012

Roger has NOTHING to prove. He is arguably the best player ever. Nadal is great on clay, and Djokovic had 1 great year! Lets see if either Nadal or Nola can win 16 slams or hold #1 as long as Roger did!

[Eugene Hill]

04:20 PM on 02/19/2012

Totally agree !.....Roger will always be the best.......

[J0E1]

10:58 AM on 02/20/2012

If Djokovic didn't bring his mental game up to the level of his physical game, Nadal would be passing 16 slams this year alone.

[Paula Small]

06:56 PM on 02/19/2012

Agree, totally. Roger can only win when he has no real opponent. He's proved that time and time again. I think he's smart enough not to let this go to his head like the media has tried to do. Roger needs to think about retirement before he goes out with his tail REally between his legs!

[grneydmuse]

12:36 PM on 02/19/2012

Great to see him win again...he really is the greatest tennis player on earth!

[stillmanbd]

12:02 PM on 02/19/2012

Federer's a thing of beauty when he's on his game!

[robjh1]

11:52 AM on 02/19/2012

Such a great player. His hits are so fluid.

[keith w oliver]

04:33 PM on 02/19/2012

virtually every part of his game is fluid ... f//f

when i go to crandon park in key biscayne (sonyerricson open) i actually preferto sit in the middle deck instead of the lower bowl, but at the court's end -- it better gives that feeling that he is just floating around the court ..
what a master