Juan Martin del Potro ends title drought; Richard Gasquet, Pablo Carreno Busta lift trophies

Here’s a roundup of all the ATP tennis action from the previous week. There were three ATP 250 tournaments in Europe — Stockholm, Moscow and Antwerp. Take a look at all the winners from Sunday. Juan Martin del Potro lifts first trophy in three years [caption id=“attachment_3069128” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Juan Martin del Potro celebrates with the trophy after defeating Jack Sock at the Stockholm Open. AP[/caption] Stockholm: Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro clinched his first ATP title in almost three years with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over American Jack Sock in Sunday’s final in Stockholm. The Argentine, who won at Flushing Meadows in 2009 before suffering a series of wrist injuries that pushed him to the brink of retirement, needed just over an hour and a quarter to beat sixth-seeded Sock. “I’ve been trying to fix my problems for the past two years and I didn’t expect to win a title at this moment in my career. I am so happy to get the trophy here. It’s motivation for looking forward to the future,” said Del Potro. The 28-year-old, runner-up to Andy Murray in the Olympic final in Rio in August, last played a tour final in Sydney in January 2014, when he beat home favourite Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-1. The world number 63 played just six tournaments across 2014 and 2015 but has gradually rediscovered the form that once enabled him to reach fourth in the world. Del Potro helped his country defeat Murray’s Great Britain in this year’s Davis Cup semi-finals and will seek to lead Argentina to their first title against Croatia next month. Gritty Pablo Carreno Busta wins Kremlin Cup [caption id=“attachment_3069162” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Pablo Carreno Busta kisses the trophy after defeating Fabio Fognini during the Kremlin Cup. AFP[/caption] Moscow: Sixth-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta battled back from a set down to defeat unseeded Fabio Fognini and win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Sunday. Carreno Busta, ranked 36th in the world, won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 54 minutes to record his second triumph over the 29-year-old Italian in as many meetings and claim his second ATP title. “The title that I won first (at Winston-Salem) is very special for me because it was the first,” Carreno Busta said. “But the Moscow title is also precious. I’ve dropped a set in both of my finals but came back to win the match and the tournament on both occasions. “Fabio sometimes loses his focus in the match. I knew that and I forced myself to continue fighting. Sometimes he’s pretty unbelievable but sometimes he plays below par. “I tried to play my normal tennis, to focus on my own performance and everything worked well.” Fognini, who saw off three seeds in succession on his way to the final, started confidently, breaking Carreno Busta’s serve twice for a one-set lead in 30 minutes. The second set was a mirror reflection of the first as the 25-year-old Spaniard also broke twice to level the final after one hour 14 minutes on court. In the third set, Carreno Busta underlined his supremacy on the hard court of Moscow’s Olympic indoor arena to claim the title after two more breaks of serve. He becomes the first Spaniard to lift the Kremlin Cup. Richard Gasquet wins Antwerp title [caption id=“attachment_3069176” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Richard Gasquet lifts his 14th ATP trophy at the inaugural European Open in Antwerp. Image courtesy: Twitter/@EuroTennisOpen[/caption] Antwerp: France’s Richard Gasquet beat Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman in straight sets 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 to win the inaugural ATP tournament in Antwerp on Sunday and claim his 14th career title. It is Gasquet’s second trophy of the season after the 30-year-old won on home court in Montpellier back in February. Currently ranked 19th in the world, Gasquet came into the Antwerp hard-court event as the third seed and he overcame the unseeded Argentine in just under an hour and a half, breaking his opponent three times. Schwartzman, a winner in Istanbul earlier this year, had overcome home favourite and top seed David Goffin in the semi-final. (With inputs from AFP)