Juan Martin del Potro literally Unsaddles Roger Federer - and wins US Open!

If you have been reading my articles, you will see that tennis, even at the highest level, is composed of the simplest things one can imagine!

Roger Federer is a great player and if this US Open title match was the best of three sets instead of five sets it would have belonged to Federer.

In the first set del Potro was so nervous that he only got one out nine of his first serves in, a feat in itself for a young man  6’6’’ tall.  This very shaky start from del Potro gave Federer the edge and the confidence to display the whole range of his beautiful game:

- Great inside out forehand winners.

- Drop-shots wrong footing del Potro.

- Serve and volley mixes with precise volleying to the corners or the baffling drop-volley.

- The occasional topspin backhand winner down the line to keep del Potro honest and not try the inside out forehand from his backhand side.

- Relaxed, impeccable, authoritative first and second serving.

Nevertheless if you were carefully watching, del Potro was getting beaten in that first set but, he was doing everything possible to stay close to Federer and to make him work for every point he won.

Furthermore del Potro, in spite of the beat up and bad nerves, kept his unforced error quota very low. By giving very little on the returns or during rallies where Federer had to earn most of his points.

In addition del Potro was doing something else that would prove to be crucial in this match, he closed in on the second serves from Federer by stepping up to the baseline or inside of it and took on every second serve from there. This had Federer frazzled, 'how could he dare, to challenge the kings second serve!?!'

Finally del Potro was not shy and went for his shots!

Federer's magic seemed to be working and del Potro looked dizzy for a short period.  A quick first set 6/3 and everything looked as if Roger was going to cruise into another of his uncontested victories.  For a moment  Federer might even have had visions of del Potro as a little pony he was riding around the manege, but little did he know.

The little pony turned out to be a huge stallion from the Argentinean Pampas that in the second set bucked once shaking Federer from the saddle at 4/5 and then suddenly reared up on his hind legs with his forelegs in the air and dropped Federer flat on his back to take the second set.

Federer tried to take the reins of the match into his hands and took the third set, but it was too late, the stallion from the Pampas had found freedom from his master and was now kicking wild from the backhand and the forehand and with his joyous gallop chasing everything Federer threw at him and throwing it back even harder.

This tenacity was beyond what Federer ever expected, del Potro, in spite of a very tough draw managed to come out in the end of the onslaught pretty fresh specially thanks to a handicapped Nadal. Almost every player that had ever threatened or beat Federer in the past was in del Potro's half of the draw.  The only player's that were not in del Potro's half were Roddick and Soderling with dismal records against Federer and Djokovic was left as the only 'worthy' opponent.

This had Federer even more frustrated to the point that the perfect Swiss even cursed at the umpire using expletives such as Sh*t and fuc*ing (no worries I have it on tape Eurosport broadcasted the whole thing!).  By the way this was a case of obvious double standards. Serena got defaulted for a diatribe towards the lineswoman, Federer should at least have received a point penalty for verbal abuse towards the umpire!

To add salt to the injury in the fourth set Federer double faulted, the pressure cooker, a consequence of del Potro's continued inside the line returns - read my article 'US Open Tennis - Roger Federer Is he really that good?' the link is at the bottom of this page) in the tiebreaker to give del Potro a mini-break which proved to be fatal for Federer and Juan Martin takes the set 7/6 to even the match.

In the fifth set del Potro sets the tone of the match and tells Federer 'who is going to be the boss in this fifth set!' by stepping into Federer's very first second serve and whamming a scorching forehand cross court for a winner!

Already in the fourth set all the virtuosity from Federer had been sent to the stables, no more variation (winners, first serves, aces, dropshots, angle volleys, drop-volleys) except the occasional slice backhand or little dinks and a rare attack. After that afront on his second serve many more questions started popping up in Federer's head.

Why?!?!?

Because del Potro had made Federer work for every point he could, had returned as many first serves as possible, made a minimum of unforced errors, went for his shots when needed, kept the pressure on the second serves by stepping inside the court (Federer tallied 11 double faults!)  and had made Federer run alot more than Federer was ever willing to!

In relief and disbelief del Potro, from the Pampas, fell on his back with legs and arms spread. But as if remembering that the match was not over, he got up and in respect for his opponent, trotted towards the great champion that Roger Federer is and towered over him with a friendly arm around the shoulders.

In the champion is a champion because there was another champion on the other side.

This time del Potro won but, Roger Federer will have plenty more to say in years to come. I hope he gets fitter for that!

In the video below you will see why and how in this US Open del Potro broke Roger Federer's service down with the simple action of consistently stepping into the court on every single  second serve of Roger's throughout the whole match. (Pleased to see that Franco Davin, del Potro's coach reads from the same book as I do!)

Hope you enjoyed the US open!

Sergio Cruz

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User Comments

Comment by MK on 2009-09-16 16:03:16 "Hi Sergio, really like you articles (not only this one :)) I just wanted to ask you a question: Federer often returns a serve with a slice, when it comes to his backhand, even if he could return it easily top spin. What do you think is the reason for that? I mean, does this have any advantage, or is this a disadvantage of the onehanded backhand, that you can't put on so much pressure on the return as you could with the doublehanded? Especially against Del Potro (and also Nadal) you could see that this slice return gave Del Potro often the possibility to put Federer under pressure, so I ask myself: what the hell, why doesn't he return it top spin. I mean there's obviously no shot that Federer can't hit. Thx a lot :D"

Comment by SC on 2009-09-16 16:05:29 Thanks Manuel! A quick answer (on the way to a lesson at 20:00hrs in Germany indoors :-((( )    What Federer does is very smart and drives his opponents bananas! Because the ball skids and stays low, making them have to lift a pace-less ball from a very difficult position often giving Federer to use his forehand in the next ball!    On very hard first serves allows Federer to block return with accuracy which would be very difficult with topspin.    On second serves it leaves it open to the chip and charge "attack" deep and often because of the time the balls takes to travel Federer is in an ideal position to volley.    Last one on clay or grass when leading with high scores he can even give himself the luxury of a chopped angle or even a drop-shot.    You have a decent slice experiment with it and you will see it will work for you too! :-)))    All the best!    Sergio

Comment by MK on 2009-09-16 16:06:09 Okay, Thanks a lot for your very quick and precise answer in spite of your hurry :)) I was just wondering what this slice return is about ... But the problem is, that the return has to stay low, isn't it?! Sometimes I think that the slice return from Federer just drops on the service line and therefore is a invitation for the opponent to hit a simple winner ... Or is this the TV that makes this shot look easier than it acutally is? However, I'll surely give it a try myself :D    How come the other players don't use this return? I've never seen Nadal or Del Potro or Djokovic returning slice when they have the time to hit it with top spin....    Thanks again :D:D... Read More  Manuel

Comment by SC on 2009-09-16 16:07:00 No problem Manuel, easy lesson Tina and Beatrice nice girls, you should meet them! :-)))    Sure the return has to stay low and the player as to be committed to step into the ball for the return to give it weight and penetration.  In my opinion Federer failed to vary and use that shot cross court low from the deuce side to del Potro's forehand. With one hand and the extreme grip del Potro uses Federer would have given him fits!  I assure you its the TV, those guys are in tears when Federer hits the slice!... Read More  None of those guys has a decent slice or know what to do with it with the return!  At 55/56 I still hit the slice better than any of those guys and I was not even close to the level they have. If you look at my video you will see that I can hit a slice backhand and chew bubble gum!! :-))))  http://tenniscruz.com/content/view/179/50/  A good slice technique has to be learned at 4,5,6,7 years old, those guys learned it recently to counter Federer, too late!

Comment by JB on 2009-09-20 01:50:02 "He came from behind. The last man to defeat Federer in a major tournament after trailing two sets to one was Marat Safin in the 2005 Australian Open semifinals. Only two other men have done this against Federer, according to ATPWorldTour.com: Tommy Haas at the 2002 Australian Open and Jiri Novak at Wimbledon in 1999, when the 17-year-old Federer was ranked outside the Top 100. To do it on a stage this large shows how tough del Potro can be."

Comment by Sergio Cruz on 2009-09-20 01:54:49 JB, Interesting that Safin was the last player that beat Federer and at match point Federer showboating hit an hot-dog against Safin.    When I saw Federer showboating against Djokovic it immediately reminded me of Safin and the Australian open.     Obviously hot-dogs for Federer are a bad omen! He better think twice before he does it again in a Grand Slam tournament.

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