Del Potro spoils US Open party
So much for the first US Open matchup between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Federer failed to live up to his end of the bargain.
Hours after Nadal did his part with an easy-as-can-be victory to get to the semifinals at Flushing Meadows in New York, Federer was unable to join him for what would have been the most-anticipated showdown of the entire two weeks, wasting chances to take control and missing makable shots in a 7-5 3-6 7-6 (8) 6-4 loss to 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro last night.
Federer entered the quarterfinals with an 18-0 Grand Slam record this season, including titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon to raise his record count to 19 major championships.
But he tweaked his back at a tournament last month, curtailing his preparation for the U.S. Open, and he was not quite at his best for stretches. He needed five sets to win each of his first two matches - and yesterday, he succumbed to the same formula of massive forehands and booming serves that del Potro used when he upset Federer in the final eight years ago.
Before the tournament began, Nadal was honest as can be when asked whether he hoped to face Federer at the only Grand Slam tournament where they’ve never met.
The answer, the No 1-seeded Nadal said earnestly, was no - because he’d rather go up against someone easier to beat.
Well, as it turns out, he’ll go up against del Potro tomorrow, when the other semifinal features two men who have never been this far at any major: No 12 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain v No 28 Kevin Anderson of South Africa.
Nadal, who has won two of his 15 Grand Slam trophies in New York, overwhelmed 19-year-old Russian Andrey Rublev 6-1 6-2 6-2 in the quarterfinals, then had to wait hours to see what Federer would do under the lights.
Arthur Ashe Stadium was packed, and both men had loud groups of supporters. Federer’s fans would cheer for del Potro’s faults, considered bad etiquette in tennis. Del Potro’s faction would break into raucous, soccer-style songs of ‘‘Ole, ole, ole, ole! Del-po! Del-po!’’
‘‘Well, I think it’s my home court, too,’’ del Potro said in an on-court interview.
The 2-hour, 51-minute contest was filled with some sublime shotmaking by each player, and some real moments of shakiness for the 36-year-old Federer, whose forehand in particular was problematic. The turning point was the thirdset tiebreaker, which Federer was a single point from winning on four occasions.
The suspense in the fourth set was brief: At 2-all, Federer dumped an overhead into the bottom of the net to gift a third break point of the game, which del Potro converted with a stinging cross-court backhand return winner to nose ahead for good.
Del Potro showed no ill effects from his five-set comeback victory in the fourth round - or the illness that’s been bothering him. His forehands were powerful and precise, including one reflex pass hit so hard and so close to Federer’s head that he ducked out of the way.
Federer was uncharacteristically off at moments, including a forehand volley that was way off the mark and set up del Potro’s match point.
In the women’s draw, Madison Keys completed the clean sweep for USA, giving the host country all four US Open semifinal spots for the first time in 36 years.
The 15th-seeded Keys served impeccably, controlled groundstroke exchanges from the baseline and was never in trouble during a 6-3 6-3 victory over 418th-ranked Kaia Kanepi of Estonia that lasted only 69 minutes.
That came several hours after 20th-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe’s 7-6 (4) 6-3 elimination of 2016 runnerup and top-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Pliskova’s loss means she will be replaced at No 1 in the rankings by Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza.
Topday, Keys will face Vandeweghe - with the winner reaching her first Grand Slam final - and No 9 seed Venus Williams meets 83rdranked Sloane Stephens.
Not since 1981 have there been four American women in the final four at the US Open, when the quartet was champion Tracy Austin, runner-up Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Barbara Potter.
It hadn’t happened at any Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon four years after that.