Auckland - Argentine Juan Del Potro resumed where he left off last season, winning the fifth title of his career in the space of seven months with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Sam Querrey in the Heineken Open final on Saturday.

The success required less than 90 minutes and puts the world number nine into good position with the Australian Open starting on Monday.

Querrey now stands 1-1 in ATP finals after winning Las Vegas last spring.

Del Potro broke Querrey in the opening game, but gave it back in the third. Another break for the South American paved the way for the opening set.

The top seed took victory through a late second-set break of Querrey, ranked 36th,

"I felt nervous when I was two break points down in the second set but I made some good serves and after that I started to play well," Del Potro said. "I tried to serve and volley and I won every volley I made." (dpa)