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Del Potro defends Estoril crown in style

Juan Martin Del Potro celebrates his title triumph © PA Photos

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• News: Del Potro to meet Gasquet in Estoril final
  
• Profile: Marin Cilic | Nikolay Davydenko | Juan Martin Del Potro | Richard Gasquet | Philipp Kohlschreiber

Top seed Juan Martin del Potro successfully defended his Estoril Open title after cruising to a 6-4 6-2 victory over Richard Gasquet.

Del Potro, 23, broke the second seed three times and did not concede a single break point on serve as he became only the third player in the 23-year-old history of the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament to win back-to-back titles after claiming his first title of the season at the Open 13 in February.

Del Potro, who joins Spaniard Albert Montanes (2009-10) and former World No. 1 Thomas Muster (1995-96) in achieving the feat, came out and made an immediate statement when breaking Gasquet in the opening game of the showpiece.

The Argentine's power from the back of the court was telling, with Gasquet regularly forced onto the back foot as the rallies developed. The Frenchman dug deep to repel the threat of Del Potro, saving break points at 1-3 and 2-4, before Del Potro sealed the set in 54 minutes with a love hold.

A driven forehand winner gave the world No. 12 a break at the start of the second and, having made another breakthrough for 4-1, Del Potro coasted through the rest of the set to boost his confidence on the clay ahead of the French Open, which starts in a fortnight.

In Munich, fourth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber was crowned the champion of the BMW Open for the second time after downing Marin Cilic 7-6(8) 6-3. Cilic, runner-up in 2010, forced several openings but his German opponent was in inspired form, saving seven of the eight break points he faced.

At the Serbia Open in Belgrade, Andreas Seppi beat first-time ATP World Tour finalist Benoit Paire 6-3 6-2 to land a first title of the year.

Meanwhile, in the first round of the Madrid Open, Nikolay Davydenko overcame the big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-6(4) 6-3 and South Africa's Kevin Anderson breezed past Alex Bogomolov Jr 6-3 6-2 in 80 minutes.

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