Juan Martin del Potro defeated Julien Benneteau 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 on Sunday to win the Rotterdam World Tennis and deny the Frenchman's dream of a first career title. Del Potro played the last game with cotton wool stuffed up one nostril due to a bloody nose which came on after the previous game in which Benneteau saved four match points.
But the Argentine second seed, who lost the final here a year ago to Roger Federer eventually defeated Benneteau, Federer's conqueror in the quarter-finals, with 13 aces and three breaks of serve. Del Potro become the second Argentine to win in Rotterdam after Guillermo Vilas in 1982. Benneteau has now lost in all eight finals that he has played.