NEW YORK — Juan Martin Del Potro took a long time to get to sleep prior to the US Open final. He had just waxed six-times Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, playing the most devastating and effective contest in his life in the semis.
But one match was left, against all-time great Roger Federer, whom he was 0-6 against coming into the match, who had destroyed him in the ‘09 Australian Open quarters 6-3, 6-0, 6-0, and who had stared him down 6-4 in the fifth set in the French semis.
It all seemed too much for the towering 20-year-old from Tandil, Argentina as he stared up at the ceiling in his pitch-black NYC hotel room.
“Last night was terrible,” he said. “I was playing the best player ever in such a big stadium and in a Grand Slam final and it weighed heavily on me. Finally I got to sleep, and then I had some dreams, but I’m not sure what they were about.”
Maybe, just maybe, they contained a heroic and gusty effort, which he put on in stunning the Swiss 3-6, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 in the final, becoming the first man outside of Nadal to beat Federer in a Slam final in 20 occasions.
Nadal had knocked off Federer five times in major finals, but his style and the way he did it was completely different style than the one that Del Potro employed. The Spaniard grinds Federer down and runs down one blast after another until he completely frustrates the world’s most artistic shotmaker. But not “DelPo,” who is a power player that didn’t fear Federer’s much discussed ferocious forehand, who was willing to go after both the Swiss’ first and second serves, whose two-handed backhand punched holes in Federer’s one hander and who pulled off searing passing shots at huge moments when Federer decided to crowd him by rushing the net.
Had it not been for a nervous first set, and a shaky end to the third set when he doubled faulted twice at 4-5 to hand Federer the set, he may have gotten off the court in two and half hours. He clearly outplayed the guy who had won five straight US Open titles and who had never been taken to a fifth set by the likes of former No. 1s Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi in U.S. finals. Del Potro knocked his block off in the fifth set, stuffing Federer’s wide variety of tricks right back in his bag.
“My dream done. It’s over,” said Del Potro, who became the first Argentine male to win the title since Guillermo Vilas in ‘77. “I will go home with a trophy, and it’s my best sensation ever in my life.”
The match took four hours and six minutes, the longest U.S. final since Agassi hit through Todd Martin in ‘99. Del Potro has been on the verge of big things for the past year and half, but seemed to be lacking mental toughness, inner fire, conditioning and court stewardship, brilliantly rode through the ups and downs. But his near upset of Federer in Paris gave him a huge boost of confidence that if his level didn’t drop precipitously, he could pound his way through to victory. He served huge when he needed to, and spotted his first serve intelligently when he thought he needed to work himself into points. He became aware of how much the crowd was pulling for him and played to Argentines in attendance that serenaded him with cries of “Ole, Ole, DelPo.”
During the sixth game of the fourth set, after arguably the fastest 6-foot-6 tennis player ever chased down a Federer blast near the wall and curled it around the post for a forehand winner, he highed-fived the crowd. He faced down Federer in the second set tiebreaker, then he survived a major hiccup in the third set. Down 4-5 at deuce and just two points from defeat in the fourth, Del Potro smoked an ace and a forehand down the line winner. He then snared the the other tiebreaker.
In the fifth set, he broke Federer early with a wicked forehand crosscourt pass, and at his third match point at 5-2, hit another heavy forehand that a defensive Federer couldn’t handle. Amazingly, he ended the contest with 37 forehand winners to just 20 from Federer, who has made a living wowing foes with untouchable forehands.
He dropped onto his back and stared at the darkened sky above and stayed there for a good 10 seconds. Later, he would tearfully thank his family and friends back in Tandil.
Federer wasn’t pleased that he failed to step on Del Potro in the second set and gain a comfortable two sets to love lead, nor was he pleased with the chair umpire Jake Garner whom he thought gave Del Potro too much time to challenge a call and dropped some choice swear words his way and scolded him (‘Don’t tell me to be quiet, I’ll talk when I want to talk!’) for telling him to hush up. The Swiss still hates the electronic line calling system, believing he sees the ball better than it does. He wasn’t happy about some fans that failed to get into their seats quickly enough, or about how many good balls were being used in a particular set. It was an altogether irritable day for the new dad (maybe his twin girls kept him up late?), but he’s still pleased with his season. “I’ve had an amazing summer and a great run,” he said. “I thought he hung in there and gave himself chances, and in the end was the better man.”
That was the case on a gorgeous Monday in New York, but may not be the case the next time they meet and Federer has proved adept at making adjustments. But the 28-year-old cannot expect to keep dominating forever, especially when there are guys eight years younger than him like Del Porto who can overmatch him off the ground on great days.
Federer ended his most dramatic Slam season with a nearly sterling record in the majors, taking draining five-set losses to Nadal in Australia and Del Potro in New York, but winning his first French Open and sixth Wimbledon. But the elite group has widened, with five others in Slam contention including Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roddick and Del Potro, who is only the fourth player since Federer won his first major at ‘03 Wimbledon to break the Nadal-Federer stranglehold at the majors.
Marat Safin, the ‘05 Australian Open champion, will retire at the end of this year. That leaves ‘03 U.S. champion Roddick and ‘08 Aussie titlist Djokovic as guys who have briefly kept the Swiss and Spaniard at bay during a period when they combined to win 21 majors. The soft-spoken Del Potro, the first man to beat Nadal and Federer back to back at a major, has truly entered of the conversation, and maybe the next time he grabs another Slam, he’ll let out a rebel yell. “I have new opportunities in the other Slams to win, because if I did here, if I beat Nadal, Federer and many good players, maybe I can do one more time,” Del Potro said.
