After watching Andy Roddick’s ground stroke land just beyond the baseline of match point, Juan Martin Del Potro collapsed to the ground and raised his arms in the air before saying a prayer and pointing up to the clear Los Angeles skies.
The 19-year old had just beaten his highest-ranked opponent to capture the 2008 Countrywide Classic, his third consecutive title on an impressive 14-match winning streak that dates back to July 7.
“I think it’s my biggest victory,” Del Potro said.
“If I want to be in the top 10, I have to beat (highly ranked players) on every surface, and I’m beginning to do that.”
The Argentinian got off to a quick start, breaking the world’s eighth-ranked Roddick on his first two service games to take a 4-0 lead in the first set, before breaking the American once again in the final game of the set.
Although Roddick gathered himself and forced a tiebreaker in the second set, he was unable to find an answer for his opponent’s serve, failing to break Del Potro even once.
“Any time that I’d give myself a chance on his serve, I’d either mess up the return or make a mistake during the point,” Roddick said.
Roddick, who wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to play in this week’s tournament after sustaining a neck injury that restricted his movement, was visibly frustrated after falling behind in the first set, breaking his racket after throwing it to the floor in disgust.
The world’s top-ranked American began to feel stiffness in his lower back and took a medical time-out to have a trainer give him a massage to relieve the tender back ““ an injury that was nothing serious, according to Roddick.
“I hadn’t been playing much and kind of made the final here out of nowhere,” he said.
“I was able to play this many days in a row and not have any (health) issues. That’s positive.”
Del Potro, meanwhile, is playing the best tennis of his life, using his powerful forehand as his primary weapon, but also making drastic improvements on his powerful serve.
The 6-foot-6-inch man lost just two service games en route becoming the first teenager since Pete Sampras in 1991 to win the Los Angeles tournament.
With the win, Del Potro will move into the top 20 in the ATP standings, and looks to improve on his 2-13 record against top-10 opponents in the final Grand Slam of the year.
“He’s playing well,” Roddick said. “No doubt he’s got a lot of talent. His forehand is huge so it will be interesting to see how he does.
“He certainly has the weapons; it depends on how he builds on it.”