NEW KING AT QUEENS.
Take a bow Juan Martin Del Potro!
In one of the biggest upsets in grand-slam finals history, a 20 year old Argentine dethroned the reigning emperor Roger Federer to win the 2009 men's singles US open and with it his first Grand Slam title. It was a surprise success but a victory hugely deserved for Del Potro. The 6ft 6in Argentine is the tallest grand slam champion in history, as well as the first man to defeat both Rafael Nadal and Federer at the same slam. The manner of Federer's defeat came as a suprise as, in contrast to the French Open where he struggled all the way, the Swiss star had looked imperious throughout the fortnight. Waiting for the Champions Trophy to take-off next week.
What a tournament for Del Potro, who had demolished Rafael Nadal for the loss of just six games in the semi-finals. On his first appearance in a grand slam final, and after more than four hours of tennis, Del Potro completed a well-earned victory over an opponent who has won 15 slam titles.
DelPo's game looks decent though he plays a power-game from the baseline. Of course he may look more gracious if he learns to volley well. If you are looking for an X factor in him, the sense of judgement, anticipation and timing of the baseline shots put him in a different league. And to top it all, the composure he has shown for a 20 year old pushes him a notch ahead of Novak and probably even both the Andy's.
In years to come, this will be remembered as the 'Hawk-Eye Final', as the occasion when the video technology got to Federer, with the Swiss even using a four-letter word during an exchange with the umpire about how Del Potro was using the computer. Okay, it wasn't quite up there with Serena Williams, but this is Federer, and it was a bit like hearing the Pope swear. Roger, who was bidding to win his sixth consecutive US Open title, had looked relaxed and the more likely to take the title having eased through the first set 6-3. But the turning point came late on in the second when the Hawk-Eye video technology - a system Federer has never been a fan of - turned the match on its head. At 5-4 up and 30-all, the line-calling technology denied Federer a set point after his Argentine opponent challenged a call by umpire Jake Garner. The ruling went in Del Potro's favour; the 20 year-old went on to take the set 7-5 and was back in the match. Unconvinced by the computer's calls and incensed by the amount of time it took del Potro to make his challenges, the third set saw Federer snap. "Don't you have any rules for this? I wasn't allowed to challenge after two seconds. The guy takes, like, 10. You can't allow that stuff to happen.", Federer said to Garner who appeared to tell the world No 1 to stop complaining.
This warning was met with further wrath when the 15-time major champion said: "Don't tell me to be quiet, OK? When I want to talk, I talk. I don't give a s*** what he said." Federer won that set. Del Potro came back to win the match. For the first time since 2003, when Del Potro was 14, Federer had lost in New York, going down 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
There are now two players younger than Murray, who is 22, to have won a major - Djokovic, the 2008 Australian Open champion, who is a week younger than the Scot, and Del Potro, the first non-European to score a slam since his countryman, Gaston Gaudio, was the 2004 French Open champion.
"I had two dreams this week. One was to win the US Open and the other one was to be like Roger. One is done, but I need to improve a lot to be like Roger" said Del Potro, who moved up one place in the rankings, from sixth to fifth. "Roger fought until the final point. He is a great champion. I'm very happy to be here with this trophy, with these people, on this court. This will be in my mind forever."
For Federer, it was a remarkable end to an incredible year that began with him unable to stem the tears at the Australian Open when he lost an epic five-set battle to Nadal. His first French Open triumph changed everything and, when he won Wimbledon, he broke the record of wins in grand-slam tournaments set by Pete Sampras. Win No 16 was agonisingly close but Del Potro snatched it away from him with a brilliant performance.
In his six US Open finals, Federer had played six different opponents. Beating Federer in the New York final had been beyond Lleyton Hewitt,Andre Agassi,Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic and Murray. But it was not beyond the man nicknamed 'Enano' or 'Dwarf', who came from behind to win 3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2. So Del Potro stopped Federer from becoming the first man to win six successive US Open titles since Bill Tilden in the 1920s. "You can't have them all," said Federer.
The wins in Paris and London appeared to have lifted a weight off his shoulders and he was once again playing with the flair and panache that marked his game in 2006 and 2007, when he won three out of the four Grand Slam titles in each year.
"I don't get hit emotionally as bad maybe in Wimbledon and Australia where it becomes super quiet at the end of the games and you have a lot of things going through your mind.
"Here it's music, so your mind goes to the music instead of the match."
The men's tennis league seems to be getting very interesting with a lot of young and talented contenders. Definitely good news for the game.
On the women's front, I was extremely glad to watch Kim Clijsters win the US Open once again, the first mother to do so in 21 years! Way to go.
Cheers,
Debashish