Next stop Glasgow for tearful Del Potro
AS STAN WAWRINKA closed in on victory in their US Open quarter-final, the emotion caused by the crowd chanting his name proved too much for Juan Martin del Potro. The big Argentine began to weep before the match was even over, so moved was he by the recognition of his struggle to shrug off years of wrist injuries to make the closing stages of a Grand Slam again. By this time, in the early hours of yesterday, Andy Murray was already halfway across the Atlantic, having taken the first available flight home after his five-set defeat by Kei Nishikori. The Japanese now meets Wawrinka in tonight’s semi-finals, while Novak Djokovic will take on Frenchman Gael Monfils. The next stop for Del Potro and Murray is Glasgow and the Davis Cup semi-final. Their crunch singles rubber will take place on Friday rather than Sunday, because Del Potro’s falsely low ranking has still not recovered sufficiently to make him their lead player — No 1s always face No 2s on the first day. The gentle giant from Tandil said he still has work to do to reach peak fitness after his long absences. ‘I think my tennis is starting to respond as I want, but physically I’m still down,’ said Del Potro. ‘I’ve already beaten Djokovic and Rafa. I played against Murray in a great match (the Olympic final). Wawrinka is the No 3 player in the world and I’m there. ‘All the British guys are playing great. They made such a good tournament here and they are the favourites to win, but in the Davis Cup everything can happen.’ It is impressive that British No 2 Dan Evans had match point against Wawrinka in the third round but may not even make the GB line-up. As for Murray, he needs to gee himself up one more time before taking a break after a summer that he said he ‘probably would have signed up for’ if it had been offered to him at the start. It was evident that he was tired here, as much mentally as physically. It was his 45th singles match since early May and 130th set of singles, considerably more than any player on the tour. Not even the return of Ivan Lendl as coach has solved the riddle of why the US Open, where Murray won the juniors and his first major, has become his least productive Slam. Lendl will next be on duty at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November at the O2 Arena. He and Murray plan to revert to a lengthy pre-season block in Miami, longer than was the case under Amelie Mauresmo.