Top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro beat Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 on Sunday to win the Japan Open and claim his third title of the season.
Del Potro grabbed the only break to go up 6-5 in the second set and held serve to win in one hour and 46 minutes.
The Argentine, runner-up to Tomas Berdych in Tokyo in 2008, converted his second match point, hitting a forehand past Raonic at the net.
"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."
Third-seeded Raonic, 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 final. He lost to local favourite Kei Nishikori last year.
The 22-year-old Canadian put pressure on del Potro's serve in the first set, but could not capitalise on three break point opportunities. Del Potro bounced back from 0-2 in the tiebreaker and secured a mini-break when Raonic double-faulted to give del Potro a 6-4 lead.
Raonic fended off del Petro once, but the Argentine aced the next point to win the set.
"There is nothing really to be down about," Raonic said. "Maybe the double fault in the tiebreak and then later in the match to break me he gets four winners so there is not much I could have done there to play better."
Raonic's eight-match winning streak came to an end. He has moved steadily up the rankings but said he was more concerned about his overall progress in competing against the world's top players.
"The improvement in the rankings is icing on the cake," Raonic said. "The important thing to me is getting better as a player. As long as I can do that, I will give myself more opportunities like this."
Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, was a late addition to the tournament after Andy Murray withdrew due to a back injury.
"I decided to come here because I lost early in the US Open and had several weeks off," said del Potro. "I'm glad I decided to come here."
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