US Open - Del Potro copied Federer
Eurosport - Tue, 15 Sep 14:24:00 2009
Juan Martin del Potro said when he was on the ropes in the US Open final he simply looked across the net and studied Roger Federer.
The young Argentine said he drew inspiration from his opponent, the all-time Slam title holder, and the urging of around 23,000 fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 20-year-old Del Potro delivered, fighting back from a two-sets-to-one deficit for a 3-6 7-6 4-6 7-6 6-2 victory over the Swiss master, who leads the list with 15 Major titles.
Sixth seed Del Potro's darkest moment came at the end of the third set, which he handed to the world number one by double-faulting on the last two points.
"At that moment I start to think (I'm in) the final, playing with Roger, the best player in history. I have nothing to lose," the 6'6" Argentine said.
"Two sets to one down, I think, 'okay, you never lose until the last point, so keep fighting'. The crowd helped me - and they saw my fight in every point."
The Argentine has made a fast climb up the rankings, being the youngest man in the year-end top 10 in 2008, and his immaturity almost showed at the crucial moment.
The soft-spoken man with the scruffy beard and booming forehand nearly took his frustrations out on his racket after that third-set debacle but checked himself before smashing it.
"For respect to myself and respect to everyone else, I don't do that," he said. "Maybe when I felt nervous I saw Roger and he's a gentleman player, you know. We have to learn many things from him. Many times I did that today."
Del Potro had to deal with the jitters at the start of the match and struggled to keep up with the elegant Swiss player, who was seeking to win the US Open for the sixth time in a row.
"At the beginning of the match I was so nervous, I couldn't sleep last night. I didn't have breakfast today," he said. "That's part of the final, you know."
He waited until the 10th game of the second set to register his first service break and that started to build his confidence, but losing that painful third set put Del Potro's back against the wall.
"If I had lost the fourth-set tiebreak I would have lost the match. I played some unbelievable points," he said about winning the decider 7-4 to force a fifth set.
"Maybe Roger felt the nerves, because (going for) his sixth straight tournament is difficult."
Del Potro knows it can be hard to live up to expectations. Last summer he won four events in a row before the Open, only to lose in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows.
Working on his fitness and improving his serve, he rebounded this year to reach the French Open semi-finals, where he took two of the first three sets against Federer before the Swiss prevailed on his way to the title.
Del Potro was able to turn the tables on the world number one, bolstered by 37 winners from his flat, bullet-like forehand.
The Del Potro progression also carried him past six-times Major winner Rafael Nadal in Sunday's semi-final, but the Argentine refused to be get carried away by thoughts of starting a collection of Grand Slam hardware.
"I don't know, I just want to live this moment," he said. "Of course I will be in the history of this tournament. That's amazing for me.
"I have other opportunities to win other Grand Slams... if I beat Nadal, Federer and many other good players, maybe I can do it once more."
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Comment 34 - 53 of 53
I am a huge Roger fan but would just like to say i think Del Potro is a very good young player and future number one.Good luck to him.
Rooney has no chance of winning a Slam !
Also if Federer badly injured himself in a ski-ing or boating accident then even a child of 7 could beat him !.That's how bad he has become...
YOU STILL THE MAN ROGER!
OK, YOU DIDN'T PLAY WELL THIS TIME BUT THE WAY YOU PLAY THE GAME IS A PLEASURE FOR EVERY REAL TENNIS FAN!
ALL THE WAY WITH ROGER!!
If DelPotro copied Roger as the article suggests, he would not have won the match. Silly headline!
Roger had a bad game and should have closed out two sets. His serve let him down badly but he still made some brilliant shots. Once Del Potro settled into the match it was difficult for Roger to get back in with Del Potro's huge serve and big, big forehands. If Roger's serve got back to a higher percentage it would have been a different outcome, in spite of the unforced errors. Just look back at the first set when Del Po could not return serve!!Please don't write Roger off, there is no one like him. Clearly the slow challenge call from Del Potro got under Roger's skin and led to the unfamiliar outburst (I think it was gamesman.ship, even Roddick has complained about the slowness between points). Congratulations to Del Potro but it still took five sets to win.His match against Nadal was more impressive, 2, 2 & 2.
Great WIN! Well deserving win.. Great KID!
Centurion cornelius,go shake it off with a nap!
Great words. Great kid. But what bothers me about the whole thing is that there is a tangerine among the oranges. The Davis-kid guy,among the top 6,is the guy. Why should that be that? Pisses me off
If Federer badly injured himself in a ski-ing or boating accident then even a child of 7 could beat him !.That's how bad he has become...
I remember when Djokovic won his first grand slam everyone started writing off Federer claiming that Djokovic was up and coming and ready to push Federer off his reign... Djokovic hasn't won any slams since. And in my opinion he will never win one again. Delpo played outstanding tennis against Nadal, and great tennis against Federer, although with the amount of errors Fed produced, it should have been easier for Delpo. Nonetheless, congrats and great play for Delpo. Let's just not put titles next to his name yet. He has yet to prove himself. And yeah it's true Roger is 28, but for an "old" guy he's sure giving these little kids a lot of grief.
One word - "consistency, definition - Roger Federer.
How can people say RF is down when he has been in all the GS finals this year? He won two of them!
So he lost to a young and good player, he is not done/finished. And as he said "one can't have em all".
As Del Potro said, RF is a true tennis player and a gentleman in the game.
If Federer is so good then why did he not even beat Clijsters let alone Del Potro ?
Federer is only good for 1 thing now.................................................... .....joining the Swiss Navy...
Federer is a spent force.Pension time for him now.
I stand before you naked with my little tool but an extra big smile on my face.
Why do people write Fed off every time he loses a tennis match, fair enough Del won but that is sports for you win some lose some. And by law of physics everything that goes up must come down. Fed has peaked and is obviously on is way down but by no means down, Del is just starting off or so i hope, if he's not already peaked. Individual sports are quite funny 'cos players tend to meet at different development stages and is always very difficult to tell who's better and what not, e.g tyson vs lennox, on record lennox won the only fight btw the two but does that making him better? typical example of people not peaking at the same time. This is where statistics comes in and in Feds case 15 GS aint no joke, playin 12 different opponents wow!. But hey! thats food for thought for every Fed critic
risimko,some great posts,pleasure reading them.
Albo, don't bother replying to attaha, he/she's a joke him/herself. Don't waste your time with such people. Every offensive word or negative opinion that comes from attaha is the biggest praise for Federer.
attaha, you are you joking right ( He (Federer) is not better than Del Potro in any sense of the game)?!?!?
I'm sorry but that's a joke. Compared to the arsenal of shots and skills Federer has, Del Potro is a second league player.
We have seen how far do players like Del Potro go. Roddick is similar to him and after he won the US Open, there was nothing else for him.
Comparing Del Potro to Federer it's just wrong, it's a blasphemy.
I think people like to belittle themselves by worshiping themselves. The Eurosport writer are like idol worshippers. Federa to them is idle worship. He is not better than Del Potro in any sense of the game. He has experience and that is what he accumulated over the years. Del POro is just starting to learn the trade. He is now a consultant with a GS title.Murray sandwiched between Consultants the only senior Registrar without a title.. This is one in question.. He has gone from 2 back to 3 and hasn't done anything. But Del Potro from 6 to 5 with a US Open title is a greater player. After this he will be more confident to paly GS. Murray will have to stay a full whole year now to come to GS honour if the press can play it well for him.
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