Del Potro notches 16th straight victory

Simon Cambers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro scrambled to a 6-0 5-7 6-2 victory over Israel's Dudi Sela in the second round of the ATP event in Washington on Wednesday, extending his winning streak to 16 matches.

The second seed, who has won his past three tournaments, lost just seven points in the opening set but was pushed hard thereafter before finally reaching the quarter-finals.

Sela, who had not won an ATP Tour match since May before his first round victory here, was overwhelmed at the start as Del Potro blitzed through the first set in just 19 minutes.

The match looked over when Del Potro broke to lead 2-1 in the second, but Sela hit straight back and as he settled, the 19-year-old Del Potro lost his way.

Sela leveled the set and then saved break points in each of his first two service games in the decider, but Del Potro broke for 3-2 and again for 5-2 before serving out the match.

The 6ft-6in Argentine will next play 6ft-9in American John Isner, who beat his compatriot Donald Young 6-4 7-6.

Earlier, German Tommy Haas ground out a 7-6 6-3 victory over Nicolas Mahut to advance to only his third quarter-final of the year.

OLD SELF

After his first-round defeat in Los Angeles last week, the fourth seed was more like his old self as he hit 12 aces in a win that set up a clash against unseeded Colombian Alejandro Falla.

The former world number two led 5-3 in the first set but failed to serve out as he was pegged back by the talented Mahut, who had won both their previous meetings but who has slipped down the rankings to 81st after a disappointing season.

However, Haas recovered to take the tiebreak 7-4 and though Mahut hung in well until 3-3 in the second set, the German broke in the seventh and ninth games to book his place in the last eight.

"When I didn't serve out at 5-3 and I hit three double-faults, that kind of drove me crazy," Haas told reporters.

"But I regained my composure and once I broke him in the second set I knew I could win."

Falla, ranked 122nd after an injury-ravaged year, ousted Frenchman Florent Serra 7-6 7-6 in a match that lasted almost two-and-a-half hours.

Serra had two set points when he served at 6-5 in the second, but Falla saved them and broke back to force another tiebreak.

The Colombian then saved four more set points in the tiebreak before finally taking it 13-11, much to his relief.

"I was cramping at 5-6 and the trainer told me he could not see me until the end of the set, so I had to carry on," Falla said.

"Everything happened in the tiebreak... set points for him, match points for me. I am just so happy to win this match."

(Editing by John O'Brien)