Story highlights
- Juan Martin Del Potro wins the Rotterdam Open in Holland
- World No.7 defeated France's Julien Benneteau in straight sets
- Del Potro becomes second Argentine to win tournament
- Benneteau has lost in all eight of his ATP tour final appearances
Juan Martin del Potro banished the pain of last year's final defeat by Roger Federer after winning the Rotterdam Open title Sunday.
The Argentine defeated France's Julien Benneteau 7-6 6-3 to claim his fourth indoor tournament victory, despite having to play the final game with cotton wool stuffed up his nostril following a nosebleed.
And the 2009 U.S. Open champion, who was seeded second, was thrilled with the 14th ATP title triumph of his career, following last year's failure in the final.
"It feels amazing, it was a big goal for me to win this title after losing the final last year," he told reporters.
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"I'm so happy to be the champion. I'm feeling very confident with my serve, hopefully for the rest of the season. Today I did lose serve for the first time this week, but finals are tough to play.
"I played perhaps my worst tennis of the week at the start of the match, I came out very nervous, but I fought back. Later on I started feeling very confident and in control all the time.
"I will try to keep on winning; I'm looking forward to my next event. It's a big challenge for me this season to try and move closer to the number one position."
Del Potro, who is currently ranked seventh in the world, is the second Argentine to win in Rotterdam after Guillermo Vilas, who triumphed in 1982 and finished runner-up the following year.
Benneteau had hoped to become the fifth Frenchman to win the title after recording a shock victory over Roger Federer in the semifinal.
But the 31-year-old, who has lost all eight ATP title finals, was unable to break his duck on this occasion.
"I can only congratulate Juan Martin," he told reporters.
"I did my best, but he was just too good for me today. He was too strong. I will still fight to finally try and win a trophy."
