Nadal pays back del Potro, heads to Open final vs. Anderson
The Muscles from Majorca are back in the U.S. Open final.
Rafael Nadal, the No. 1 seed in this year’s tournament, avenged an eight-year-old Open score by beating Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 in the second men’s semifinal on Arthur Ashe Stadium court Friday night, a match that lasted two hours, 31 minutes.
Nadal will face Kevin Anderson in Sunday’s final after the South African beat Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta in four sets — 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 — earlier Friday.
“I still have the passion and the love for this game. If that happens, I keep having my chances,” said Nadal, who already won the 2017 French Open and lost to Roger Federer in the ’17 Australian Open in January.
Argentina’s del Potro did the unthinkable in Flushing in 2009 — first toppling Nadal in the Open semifinal and then beating Federer in the final. But del Potro wasn’t able to duplicate the feat in reverse in 2017, and perhaps he can take some consolation in his quarterfinal victory Wednesday, when he outlasted the great Federer in four sets.
On match point Friday, Nadal ripped a backhand winner and then crouched to the court in triumph.
There were not many tennis junkies who didn’t want a Federer-Nadal 2017 Open semifinal collision, especially since the two stars had never faced each other in Flushing at the final Grand Slam event of the season. Instead, the 31-year-old Nadal got del Potro, who had a grueling five-set victory over Dominic Thiem in the fourth round in addition to the marathon quarterfinal win over Federer.
Nadal’s victory Friday night was his 15th Grand Slam singles win since losing that ’09 semifinal to del Potro. Nadal is in his 23rd Grand Slam final. He is a two-time Open winner (2010, 2013) and already has 15 major titles in his career.
Friday’s late match saw del Potro come out blazing in the first set, and Nadal made the mistake of playing to del Potro’s backhand, which ended up costing the Spaniard the first set. By the time del Potro went up one set to love by hitting a forehand winner, Nadal was already planning a new strategy to swing the momentum.
“I didn’t have the right determination at the beginning,” said Nadal. “I was playing too much against his backhand.”
“He played so smart the second set, the third, and the fourth,” said del Potro. “To be honest, I’m angry to lose a chance like this, but maybe tomorrow, after tomorrow, I will be calm and see how big the tournament was for me.”
The Spaniard seized control, blasting his trademark forehands from the baseline throughout the rest of the match, and making del Potro move all over the court. Del Potro also committed one unforced error after another, collecting 40 total unforced errors in the match. Nadal won the second set by breaking del Potro on set point, as the Argentinian skied his forehand into the crowd.
In the third set, del Potro fought off set point two times, but three times were the charm for Nadal, who won the set with an overhead smash at the net. He punctuated the point by crouching and pumping his left arm and fist several times. In the fourth set, Nadal broke del Potro first, flicking a beautiful forehand volley in the corner as del Potro was running in the opposite direction. By the end of the match, del Potro was working on fumes and he acknowledged he was
Martina Hingis (1), Switzerland and Jamie Murray (1), Britain vs. Hao-Ching Chan (3), Chinese Taipei and Michael Venus (3) New Zealand
Madison Keys (15), United States, vs. Sloane Stephens, United States physically exhausted from his Flushing run.
“I’ve been exhausted after the Thiem match, the (Federer) match. I had the flu during the week. So I had many problems before this match, but I was very motivated to play the semifinal. (Nadal) deserved to win, and I did all my best, all my effort to survive this match, but I couldn’t do well,” said del Potro.
In the earlier, undercard semifinal match played on Arthur Ashe court, towering, 6-8 South African Anderson needed nearly three hours to beat the nimble-footed Spaniard Carreño Busta. Anderson advanced to his first major final.
With Federer ousted in the quarterfinals, and notable names like 2016 Open champ Stan Wawrinka (left knee surgery), two-time Open champ Novak Djokovic (elbow injury), and 2012 Open champ Andy Murray (hip injury) absent from the tournament, players like Anderson and Carreño Busta were each able to seize the opportunity and advance to their first Open semifinal.
“I’m just over the moon right now,” said Anderson, 31.
Serving for the match, Anderson engaged in a 38-shot marathon with his opponent before whacking a return long on the first point. Anderson tied it at 15-15, lost a 24-shot rally to fall behind 15-30, then won the next three points. On match point, Carreño Busta hit a forehand into the net, causing Anderson to place his hands on his head in disbelief.