Juan Martin del Potro to Win US open tennis 2009
On an astonishing afternoon and evening in New York City, Juan Martn del Potro, a 20 year-old from Argentina, won his first grand slam title by coming back from two sets to one down for a five-set victory over Roger Federer in the US Open final.
It was the first time since 2003, when Del Potro was just 14 years old, that Federer had lost a match on the cement courts at Flushing Meadows.
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. The distractions over Hawk-Eye hardly helped Federer, who had been hoping to become the first man to win six successive US Open titles since Bill Tilden in the 1920s. Tilden never had to deal with Hawk-Eye. And he probably also didn’t have to deal with a 6ft 6in opponent who, for most of the match, was swinging at everything on the forehand side. 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 3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory over an opponent who has won 15 slam titles.
Source : telegraph.co.uk
