Spaniard makes it back-to-back titles in Buenos Aires
Nicolas Almagro of Spain won his second title in as many weeks when he beat Juan Ignacio Chela in the final of the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires.
The top seed was pushed all the way by the home favourite before pulling through 6-3 3-6 6-4 in just over two hours.
The clay-court specialist won in Brazil last week and took his streak to nine matches as he lifted a ninth career title, all of them on the red dirt.
Two breaks of serve from 3-3 gave Almagro the first set but it was Chela, in his first Buenos Aires final after 11 years of trying, who clinched the decisive breaks in the next to draw level.
Breaks were exchanged early in the deciding set before the Spaniard broke crucially in the seventh game before serving out for the match.
"I knew it would be tough, but I was in good shape," Almagro told the ATP Tour website. "It wasn't easy because of the wind and we both had trouble with it.
"In the first set I was really aggressive, but in the second I made a few unforced errors that cost me the set. In the third I had to repeat what I did in the first set and happily I could do it to win."
The 'Golden Swing' concludes with Mexican Open in Acapulco next week, which Almagro has already won twice in 2008 and 2009.
The top seed was pushed all the way by the home favourite before pulling through 6-3 3-6 6-4 in just over two hours.
The clay-court specialist won in Brazil last week and took his streak to nine matches as he lifted a ninth career title, all of them on the red dirt.
Two breaks of serve from 3-3 gave Almagro the first set but it was Chela, in his first Buenos Aires final after 11 years of trying, who clinched the decisive breaks in the next to draw level.
Breaks were exchanged early in the deciding set before the Spaniard broke crucially in the seventh game before serving out for the match.
"I knew it would be tough, but I was in good shape," Almagro told the ATP Tour website. "It wasn't easy because of the wind and we both had trouble with it.
"In the first set I was really aggressive, but in the second I made a few unforced errors that cost me the set. In the third I had to repeat what I did in the first set and happily I could do it to win."
The 'Golden Swing' concludes with Mexican Open in Acapulco next week, which Almagro has already won twice in 2008 and 2009.
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