Juan Martin del Potro celebrates as the Hawkeye challenge system shows that his forehand on match point indeed clipped the line. Photo via d.yimg.com

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WASHINGTON--Juan Martin del Potro successfully defended his title at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington Sunday afternoon, holding off Andy Roddick 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6) in a sweltering final.

Roddick broke in the third game of the third set to take a 3-1 lead, a lead that looked likely to hold up with del Potro seemingly suffering more in the heat, as temperatures at court level reached more than 120°F.

But del Potro, who's resolve and effort had at time looked questionable at times this week, steeled himself impressively, winning eleven points in a row to take him from 1-3 down to a 4-3 lead.

The two held serve with relative ease the rest of the match, leaving the champion to be determined in a third set tiebreak.

A slice backhand from Roddick landed just long to give del Potro a minibreak for 2-1 in the third, giving him a minibreak advantage that he held onto until with the help of three aces in his next four points on serve. 

Facing two match points at 3-6, Roddick saved the first with an ace, and the second by forcing a del Potro backhand error.  del Potro still had a minibreak edge, however, and had one championship point remaining on his serve.  del Potro hit a strong serve that Roddick effectively blocked back into del Potro's body, reflecting the pace of the serve and leaving the Argentine handcuffed, drawing another forced error to level the tiebreak at 6-6.

"At 6-5, I did a 134 mph serve out wide, and Andy returned it unbelievably well." del Potro lamented afterwards.  "It was very tough for me."

del Potro hit an untouchable serve out wide at 6-6 to give himself a fourth match point at 7-6.  He then returned Roddick's serve well, and was able to rip a forehand cross court that landed near the line, to give himself the match.

Roddick challenged the final call, with a difference of 200 ranking points and $174,000 in prize money hanging in the balance.  The two men met at the net, and watched as the big screen showed a piece of the ball had indeed clipped the sideline.

"I didn't know, I actually thought it might've been out," Roddick said after.  "And I asked him as we were standing there, and he said he thought it might've been out."

"So I was disappointed when it wasn't," he laughed.

This wraps up The Daily Forehand's coverage of the 2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, I hope you've enjoyed it.  Thanks for reading, and stay with us for the rest of the US Open, and the entire year in tennis.

I leave you with reactions from both players in their post match comments.

-Juan Martin del Potro-

TDF: The first two times you faced break point in the match, you double faulted.  How frustrating was that, and how were you able to recover and not let that get too upset?

Juan Martin del Potro: It's hard, for your mind.  I did many double faults.

But I always was thinking "keep trying until the end," and if I played some good returns, then I had a chance to break his serve.  And I did, I broke for 3-2.  And we play until the tiebreak, and I did my best tennis there.

TDF: You were down 3-1 in the third set, and you won eleven points in a row to get up 4-3.  What were you doing differently there to get it so suddenly turned around?

Juan Martin del Potro: Well I did the same that I was doing--trying to return his serve, keeping it in the court to start the rallies.  But Andy missed some easy balls, and I was making many errors. 

I just kept trying to keep at it, kept trying to stay aggressive, and that was it.

-Andy Roddick-

TDF:  You were up 3-1 in the third set, and then he went on an eleven-point win streak.  What happened there? Was he playing better, or were you just not playing as well as before?

Andy Roddick: Well, no, I mean, the game I got broken, I played one bad point, and that was the double on break point.  To get to 0-40, I put in three first serves, and he was kind of just taking swings.  I don't think he--I don't know if he wanted to play long points.

And he converted.  I kind of forced him to play high-risk tennis, especially with the conditions, and he was taking big cuts, especially for the last 25-30 minutes we were out there.  And he was connecting.

TDF: Whether it's based on good judgment or not, there are people who are going to say that this is your second back-to-back time losing a final, and that maybe you're having trouble late in matches.  Are you concerned about that in the slightest?

Andy Roddick: No...I mean, I've had I-don't-know-how-many close matches I won to get to this one.

I'd say those people don't really know much about our sport.