Del Potro: 'I realized that Roger Federer started hitting the racket frame'

Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro have faced each other 25 times in their career, often with very high stakes. The biggest success of the Argentine champion probably corresponds to one of the most bitter disappointments for the former World number 1, who has always shown respect and admiration for the 'Tower of Tandil'. The reference is to the final of the US Open 2009, when Delpo reassembled a set of disadvantage twice to the Swiss up to establish himself in the fifth conquering his first (and so far only) Slam. In that same year, the Basel champion had prevailed both in the Australian Open and in the semifinal of Roland Garros. In the second part of a long interview with ESPN, del Potro recalled that magical triumph, enhanced by the victory in the semifinal against Rafael Nadal.

Del Potro on Roger Federer

"I felt inside me that it was the opportunity to win my first Grand Slam and I had let it pass. That match hit me a lot, I felt like a loser," Juan Martin del Potro said of his ordeal in Paris, as he lost in five sets to the eventual champion Roger Federer. "He is always intact, but when I realized that he started hitting the racket frame, I knew he was tired because he stopped moving. He no longer had clean contact with the ball, and to beat the best you have to grab those details," the Argentine said. "There was noise, a lot of people screaming, I saw 'Championship Point Del Potro' and my legs automatically loosened. My hands trembled and I said, 'The same thing can't happen to me as it did in Roland Garros'. It is a pleasure to talk to him many times. He is an example on and off the field," Del Potro added of the 20-time Grand Slam champion. In the 2017 U.S. Open quarterfinals, in a rematch of the 2009 US Open final, Del Potro again beat Federer in four sets to end his unbeaten streak in grand slams that year. With this win, Del Potro also denied the first Federer-Nadal match at US Open, as in 2009 where he beat Nadal in straight sets in the semifinals. Federer, however avenged this loss at the Shanghai Masters semifinals, where he beat del Potro in three sets after coming from a set down. In the final at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open del Potro beat Federer in three close sets, after facing match points in the third set. With this win del Potro won his first Masters 1000 title of his career.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2YgCYds