Juan Martin del Potro’s tennis career has often been blighted by fitness issues but nothing can take away from his brilliant run at the 2009 US Open when he went on to win his first and only Grand Slam title with a stunning win over Roger Federer in the final.
It was a time of peak dominance from Federer and Rafael Nadal with Novak Djokovic having also made bit of his presence felt with a major title under his belt the previous year.
In face, since the 2005 French Open, Djokovic had been the only player to have won a Grand Slam other than Federer and Nadal, coming into the 2009 edition of the US Open.
Federer was a pre-tournament favourite with Nadal, second seeded Andy Murray and the fourth seed Djokovic all in varying degrees of hunt to make lift the title as well.
What followed was something not too many had expected.
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Del Potro Enters US Open as the Sixth Seed
Before the start of the 2009 season, del Potro’s best showing at a Grand Slam had come at the previous year’s US Open where he made the quarterfinal for the first time in his career.
He followed that up with another last-eight appearance at the Australian Open and then entered the semifinal at the French Open.
Featuring in the Canadian Open in the lead-up to the US Open, del Potro stunned Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick on his way to his first Masters 1000 final. Andy Murray got the better of him in the title-decider there.
With some form under his belt, del Potro entered the 2009 US Open with some confidence and as the sixth seed.
Easy Road to the Final Despite Nadal Barrier
Del Potro dropped just seven games in his opening round win over fellow Argentine Juan Monaco and then sealed off another straight-set win in his second round encounter against Jurgen Melzer.
Daniel Kollerer took a set off del Potro in the third but a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero brought the Argentine face to face with Marin Cilic in the quarterfinal. Cilic would go on to win the US Open in 2014 in another shock result and then, in 2009, he would take the first set off del Potro too.
The sixth seed, however, came back strongly to win the next three sets for the loss of six more games.
Rafael Nadal was up next, in the semifinal but del Potro had defeated the Spaniard two times in succession that season – once at the Miami Masters and then against at the Rogers Masters.
Here, in the semifinal, del Potro was unstoppable. He spent less than two and a half hours to clip Nadal’s wings in straight sets, dropping only six games en route his maiden final appearance.
The stage was set for the 20-year-old who was taking on a player who had won the title on five previous occasions. Win or lose, del Potro had already done more than what was expected out of him in many ways.
And yet, it would be special to stall the world number one’s run at the US Open now, wouldn’t it?
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Federer Shocked in a Thriller!
In what has often been called one of the best men’s tennis matches of the millennium, del Potro sent Federer packing in a thrilling five-setter to lift his maiden Grand Slam title.
Federer had gone into the match as a 3/10 odds-on favourite to make it his sixth successive tournament win at Flushing Meadows and having won the opening set, those odds had shortened more considerably.
What followed, however, was a combination of del Potro upping the ante and Federer losing his way with his serve.
Because for Federer, at his best, to drop down to less than 50% on his first serve in a match as big as this wasn’t par for the course. Del Potro took full toll on the Swiss maestro’s second serve and clinched the second set in a tie-breaker.
Federer retaliated with a much better showing in the third but around the same time, there was a sense of frustration that looked to be developing at his end.
It could have been down to the little things that del Potro kept nibbling away at – like a late call for a challenge, pointing to a flying cup on to the court for replaying a point – but more vitally, it looked like Federer wasn’t quite chuffed at his own serving.
Sensing this wasn’t Federer at his best, del Potro attacked and got himself a break of serve in the third set but then dropped his own while serving to make it 5-3. Another break of serve followed soon after to give Federer the set.
In the fourth, del Potro broke Federer yet again, dropped his own in the eighth game but then aided by his opponent double-faulting in the tie-breaker, carved out an equaliser.
The final set would have been a bit of a blur for Federer. From coming into the match as a five-time defending champion, to losing his serve early in the decider and then failing to take hold of the break-point opportunities he had, Federer fell to a 0-3 deficit.
Serving to stay in the tournament at 2-5, Federer’s serve gave way yet again and del Potro managed to close out the encounter 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
What Happened Next?
Del Potro did not reach another major final for another nine years after this US Open triumph. In 2018, however, in what turned out to be his penultimate Grand Slam appearance, the Argentine made it to the US Open final yet again.
This time around he faced Novak Djokovic, who downed him in straight sets to win his 14th major.
Federer reached the final of the very next Grand Slam he featured in – the Australian Open in 2010 – and won the title with a straight-set win over Andy Murray.
He would go on to collect four more titles in majors but never win the US Open again despite making it to the final in 2015. Like del Potro, Federer would also lose that encounter to Djokovic.
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