Roger KO’d by del Potro

support from the crowd, broke Federer’s heart on the Arthur Ashe court for the second time, the first in the 2009 U.S. Open final when the Argentine won his first and only grandslam. Partly because of wrist injuries, del Potro hasn’t been to a grand-slam final since then, and this marks just his second major semifinal appearance since that U.S. Open title.

This nonetheless will remain a successful year for Federer, who won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon after not having won a grand slam since the 2012 Wimbledon; he missed this year’s French Open. He hasn’t won the U.S. Open since 2008, which was the last of his five consecutive U.S. Open titles.

New Yorkers may yearn for a Federer-Nadal duel in Flushing, but at least for this year Federer conceded his quarterfinal opponent deserves the opportunity more.

“He’ll have a better chance to beat Rafa, to be honest,” Federer said. “The way I’m playing right now is not good enough, in my opinion, to win this tournament.”