The Argentine world No. 12   became the third man in the tournament's history to win the clay title in successive years, following in the footsteps of Thomas Muster (1995-1996) and Albert Montanes (2009-2010).

It was also Del Potro's second title of the season after his victory in Marseille in February, and his 11th of a career which includes a US Open success in 2009.

The loss left Gasquet still looking for his first ATP trophy since triumphing in Nice in May, 2010.

The final was played in sunny conditions after wind and rain affected the early days of the event at the Estadio Nacional.

Del Potro broke to love in the first game to set the tone, but Gasquet put up a fight throughout an opening set which lasted 54 minutes.

The Frenchman, renowned for his flawless one-handed backhand, saved break points in the fifth and seventh games before his South American opponent sealed the set with a concluding break.

Del Potro then began the second set with a break and turned up the pressure to run out the winner with six aces and three breaks of serve in just under 90 minutes on court.

The Argentine did win a pair of David Cup rubbers on clay against Croatia six weeks ago but he will still be delighted to triumph in what was his first tour clay event of the season after he chose to skip Monte Carlo and train at home.

He has now appeared in four finals on clay in his career and won the lot while Gasquet missed the chance to become the first from France to win the Portuguese title since the event began in 1990.

He also lost the 2007 final to a then up-and-coming Novak Djokovic.


In Munich, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany beat Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6 (8), 6-3 yesterday to win the BMW Open for the second time.

Kohlschreiber, seeded fourth, also won this clay-court tournament in 2007. He saved seven of eight break points to capture his fourth title in his sixth ATP final. His previous title also came in Germany - last year's Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

“I improved from match to match, felt very well for the whole week and played good tennis,” he said.

Kohlschreiber won more than $94,000 in prize money and a white convertible worth more than $73,000.

“I don't really know what I should say,” he said. “I don't have as much experience of this as (Roger) Federer.” The third-seeded Cilic, who lost this final in 2010 to Mikhail Youzhny, won nearly $50,000.
 

In Belgrade, Andreas Seppi of Italy defeated Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-2 yesterday to win the Serbia Open for the second title of his career.

Paire was playing his first ATP final after upsetting top-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain in Saturday's semifinals. Seppi, seeded second, won his first tournament last June in Eastbourne.

“It was a fantastic week for me,” said Seppi, who lost in the semifinals in Belgrade in 2009 against top-ranked Novak Djokovic. “I managed to win this time.” Paire got off to a good start with an early break, but he was soon undone by unforced errors and double-faults. Seppi broke immediately in the second set and then again to close the match, but only after Paire saved five match points.

Paire also eliminated sixth-seeded Fabio Fognini and third-seeded Jarkko Nieminen. He thanked the fans, promising to “see you next year.” The Serbia Open is organized by the Djokovic family. Djokovic won the title last year, but pulled out this year because of the death of his grandfather.

In Madrid, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka beat Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-4 yesterday in a tough first-round match on the new blue clay court at the Madrid Open.

Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, was runner-up in this tournament last year. The Belarus star has won four titles this year.

The players traded breaks in the opening set. Just when it seemed the second set was going to another tiebreaker, Azarenka broke again to close the match.

Sixth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark defeated Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-4.