WASHINGTON -- No one has been able to stop Juan Martin Del Potro in more than a month.
The 19-year-old Argentine, ranked No. 19 in the world, won his 16th consecutive match Wednesday, beating Dudi Sela 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.
"In the end of the second set, when I was close to winning, the match got a little out of hand," Del Potro said. "But even after losing the second set I didn't panic."
Del Potro had 19 of his 32 unforced errors in the second set, but recovered in the third to extend the streak.
Fourth-seeded Tommy Haas also advanced, beating Nicholas Mahut 7-6 (4), 6-3. When the two met in the locker room early in the day, Haas showed his appreciation for second-seeded Del Potro's recent streak. Haas licked his finger, touched it to Del Potro and made a sizzling sound to acknowledge Del Potro is on fire.
"Right now he's just full of confidence," Haas said. "When you win 15 matches in a row, he must be feeling pretty good about himself."
Del Potro has not lost since Stanislas Wawrinka beat him in the second round of Wimbledon on June 25. Since then, he picked up his first career title in Stuttgart, Germany, and kept the streak going with titles in the Austrian Open and the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles.
It's the first time any ATP player has picked up his first three career titles in three consecutive tournaments.
"I cannot believe this moment," Del Potro said.
In contrast to Del Potro, who cruised early before running into trouble, Haas had his tough times early in the match. Serving with a 5-3 lead in the first set, Haas double-faulted three times to give Mahut a break.
"That drove me a little bit crazy," Haas said. "Just to not make him play, especially when I was serving for that first set."
Those were just the most damaging of seven double faults for Haas in the opening set. Haas said his shoulder was a little bit tight, and after he missed on a few serves he started to overthink the motion.
Haas settled in after the first-set tiebreaker, winning the final four games of the second set to end the match. He had no double faults in the second set.
