Tennis: Is Del Potro Federer’s nightmare in finals?
The 'gaucho' has overcome the Swiss in final instances and has won four times after intense duels of great emotion
The Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro and the Swiss Roger Federer have played six finals of the most important tennis tournaments in the world.
Leer en español: Tenis: ¿Es Del Potro la pesadilla de Federer en finales?
Del Potro has won in finals
Delpo has become the Swiss black beast, as he has won four finals, while Federer has only done it twice. However, in other instances such as Quarterfinals and Semifinals, Roger has surpassed Juan Martin, who has 18 victories in the history.
These two tennis players have featured prominent encounters over the years. In these meetings, a very high level has been demonstrated. The first duel between the two was held at Wimbledon 2007, and the win went to Federer, while the most recent was won by Del Potro at Indian Wells.
What have been the five most memorable games between both players, which favored the 'gaucho' and generated great emotion?
1. US Open 2009: The Argentine gave the big blow and beat Federer in the final with partial 3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 and 6-2. On this occasion, Del Potro won a prize of $ 1,850,000 USD, while Federer earned a profit of $ 925,000 USD. Additionally, Federer had 41 unbeaten games at the US Open, before losing the final with the outstanding racket from Tandil. This tournament was played on a hard surface, being the fourth and last Grand Slam competition of the year.
2. Basilea 2012: On this occasion, 'La Torre de Tandil' won in Basel, Switzerland, against Roger Federer with sets of 6-4, 6-7 and 7-6. It was the ninth final that Federer disputed in his home, and Juan Martin snatched the crown getting the thirteenth title of his career. The match lasted two hours and 43 minutes of play, and Del Potro beat Federer after seven consecutive defeats. It was a commitment in which the gaucho racket won from start to finish with a mini break in the sixth point.
3. Another hard blow for Federer: The Argentine and the Swiss met again at the 2013 Basel Tournament and the victory went to Del Potro. "Sorry for winning you here. You make history in every tournament you play. I am proud to have played at the same time as you", said the 'gaucho'. The match ended 7-6 (3), 2-6 and 6-4 and it was a competition that was played from 21 to 27 October 2013 on carpet.
4. Federer's rematch came: Again, they faced in Basel 2017 and finally the Swiss won with sets of 6-7, 6-4 and 6-3. In this way, Federer became the second player with more recognitions in the history of white sport to achieve 95 titles. In addition, Roger obtained his eighth title in Basel and undertook to play this competition until 2019.
5. Del Potro returned to the triumph: At 29, the Argentine conquered the first 1,000 Masters of his career after defeating Federer in the final. Del Potro defeated with partial of 6-4, 6-7 (8-10) and 7-6 (7-2) to the number one racket in the world and took an undefeated 17 wins. This was the 22nd title in the career of Del Potro, who has also won a Grand Slam and a Masters 1000 along with Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka. With this victory, Del Potro won his seventh victory against the Swiss, after 25 commitments that have been played in total.
In short, the 'gaucho' has become the beast of the Swiss, since he has defeated him in finals, but the competition between them has always been healthy. At the end of the matches, they have always expressed their admiration due to the great competitive level that both have shown in tennis.
Latin American Post | Daniel Cuevas
Translated from “ Tenis: ¿Es Del Potro la pesadilla de Federer en finales?”
