Roth Pond Regatta

The men’s US Open proved a surprise for everyone. The tournament seemed in the bag for world No. 1 Roger Federer, who entered the final match against 20-year-old sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, against whom Federer had won all 6 of their previous matches. Five sets later, Del Potro walked off the court with the title, defeating the seemingly undefeatable Federer 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2. With the loss, Federer’s hopes of setting tennis records by winning six US Open titles in a row

disappeared. The Swiss player was hardly at the top of his game, losing his composure at times during the match. He exchanged curses with the chair empire and committed more double-faults than he has previously in final matches. As the balls flew past him, one gained the impression that Federer had no idea how to stop Del Potro. Nevertheless, the match was a difficult one for both players, and each battled throughout the long contest. Del Potro certainly ended some of Federer’s greatest record

s. The Swiss tennis star had won 40 consecutive matches at Flushing Meadows, had won 33 of his previous 34 Grand Slam matches, and has made 17 finals at his past 18 Grand Slam tournaments. Del Potro, on the other hand, entered with a fraction of Federer’s experience; the Argentine was playing his first Grand Slam final. However, Del Potro had already upset Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. The win laid the groundwork for his match against Federer. “Maybe I look back and have some regrets about

it,” said Federer. “But, you know, you can’t have them all and can’t always play your best. “I would like to congratulate Juan Martin on an unbelievable tournament. I had a great one myself, too,” Federer went on, “but he was the best.” Federer seemed unstoppable in the first set, taking it 6-3. Events took a turn for the worst for the world No. 1 in the second set, however; the first set was a warm up, and Del Potro seemed on fire as he won the second set on a tiebreaker 7-6 (5). Although he lost the third set 6-4, the Argentine seemed to gain confidence from his initial win. The fourth set brought the most struggle in the match. Del Portro broke service once, while Federer broke it twice. The set ended on a tiebreak; Del Potro won, and pushed the match to a fifth a final set. It was here that Del Potro crushed Federer, smashing the Swiss player 6-2 and winning the match and the title. During the interview after the match, Del Potro said, with tears in his eyes, that he had had two dreams coming into the US Open: the first was to win the Open; the second to play as well as Federer. He had, he said, accomplished one of these – he’d won the US Open. He added that he still needed to improve to become like Federer one day, though. The 4-hour, 6-minute match was the first U.S. Open final to go five sets since 1999 while Del Potro was the first Argentine to win the US Open since 1977.