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Top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro beat Milos Raonic of Canada, 7-6 (5), 7-5 on Sunday to win the Japan Open and claim his third title of the season.
Del Potro got the only break of the match to go up 6-5 in the second set and then held serve to win the match in 1 hour, 46 minutes.
The Argentine, who was a runner-up to Tomas Berdych here in 2008, converted his second match point in the final game, hitting a forehand past Raonic at the net to secure the title.
"I played really well in the last two games of the match," Del Potro said. "I broke his serve and closed out in a fantastic way and hopefully I can keep it going for the rest of the season."
The third-seeded Raonic, who was coming off a win at the Thailand Open last week, hit 17 aces but came up short in his second straight appearance in the Japan Open final. He lost to local favorite Kei Nishikori last year.
The 22-year-old Canadian put pressure on del Potro's serve in the first set, but could not capitalize on three break point opportunities. Del Potro bounced back from an 0-2 deficit in the tiebreaker and got a break when Raonic double-faulted to give del Potro a 6-4 lead.
Read more http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/9780510/juan-martin-del-potro-wins-japan-open-third-title-2013
