They had been here before. In 2009, Juan Martín del Potro, not 21 yet, ended Roger Federer’s five-year reign at the US Open in an enthralling five-set final. Eight years later they were on the same Arthur Ashe court, battling for a place in the semifinal. They battled for four sets and nearly three hours in front of a captive audience. Since that defeat to Del Potro in 2009, Federer hadn’t won the title in New York, hadn’t even made a final in fact, in six attempts. Had he quelled the big Argentine, Federer would have set up yet another titanic clash against Rafael Nadal.
The world was salivating at the prospect of that dream scenario but Del Potro stood in the way. After sharing the first two sets, he didn’t lose his poise when Federer recovered from a break of serve to push the third into a tiebreaker. Federer held set points thrice only for Del Potro to land a counterpunch successfully on each occasion, clinching it 10-8 by pulverising a ferocious return on Federer’s serve.
Once in the ascendancy, Del Potro started to boss the contest. He broke Federer’s serve in the fifth game and as the chants of “Ole, Ole, Ole” from Argentine supporters resonated in the arena, Del Potro was serenity personified. After an inexplicable volley error from Federer at 30-30 in the final game, Del Potro closed the match out with a signature forehand winner that a commentator described as “Thor-hand”, for its sheer ferocity over the course of the tournament.
“He came up with the goods when he needed to and I helped him a little bit sometimes too maybe,” Federer admitted later. “But he was better today, especially on the big points.”
Federer was unmistakably off his A game in the match. He served five double faults to Del Potro’s three though he did hit more aces – 17 to 12. While his winner count at 60 was comfortably better than Del Potro’s at 48, Federer committed 41 unforced errors to his rival’s 32. Federer conceded later to being restless and stressed during the match, describing it as a “bad feeling.”
Although Federer arrived in New York as one of the leading contenders for the title on the back of his sparkling run over the course of the first half of the year, he struggled to find his groove. He was extended to five sets in his first two rounds by American Frances Tiafoe and Russian Mikhail Youzhny, though he recovered to win his next two rounds in straight sets.
In fact, the build-up to the US Open was far from ideal for Federer. After going down to Alexander Zverev in straight sets in the final at Montreal, he withdrew from the Cincinnati Open with a back injury. After playing five matches in New York, Federer made a scathingly candid assessment of where his own game was at. “I feel I have no place in the semis and he (Del Potro) will have a better chance to beat Rafa, to be honest,” he said. “The way I played or playing right now, it’s not good enough in my opinion to win this tournament. It’s better I’m out and somebody else gets a chance to do better than me.”
So, the quest for a 20th Grand Slam singles title will now resume next year at the Australian Open, where this magical Federer season began. For now, Federer will allow his 36-year-old body to get some down time before he plays at the Laver Cup in Prague later this month. Federer insists he will play a full schedule for the remainder of the season with tournaments lined up in Shanghai, Basel and Paris before the ATP tour finals in London.
“There’s hopefully more to come for me,” he smiled. “Of course, it’s all a bonus at this stage. I’ve had a wonderful year. This is part of the game, you know, I can’t win them all.”