Roger Federer lost the first set
and tottered on the brink of defeat throughout the second, saving a match point
in the process, and eventually struggled through in a prolonged tie-breaker to
even the match.
The third set proceeded on
serve up to 4-all, when Federer broke to serve for the match at 5-4. It
appeared to be all over as Federer marched to a seemingly comfy 40-15 lead. Up
two match points, Federer did what so many of us do on the edge of victory, and
faltered. He repeatedly missed first serves, tried and missed a crazy
drop-shot, managed to get a third match point, but in all of these crucial
situations, was unable to produce any of his usual magic tennis. Del Potro, on
the other hand, functioned well with his back to the wall, refused to miss and
eventually won the game.
Although Federer managed to
reach a tie-breaker in the third, I suspect he was a little shaken by his
failures to convert his match points, because he shockingly he fell apart. Two
double faults accompanied by several groundstroke errors left him behind from
the outset and never in contention. A great win for the deserving Del Potro.
The two players had many of
the same weapons, highlighted by their deadly forehands and devastating first
serves. Del Potro had a slight advantage in the baseline rallies because his
forehand was somewhat heavier than Federer's, though Federer was able to hit
his more frequently because his greater foot-speed and agility allowed him to
run around his backhand more often to get forehands. Del Potro, on the other
hand, was more able to hit forehand winners from defensive positions as well as
on the reach and on the dead run.
The contrasts between players
were interesting. In addition to his superior mobility, Federer has better
hands and wrists, enabling him to flick winners and hit bewildering shots from
unusual positions. You can see him generate his high racket velocity with his
whippy arm and talented hands. Del Potro, on the other hand (no pun intended), gets
his tremendous power without seeming to do much. It is partially because he has
such long arms that even without swinging too hard his racket moves
blisteringly fast at the end of such an extensive lever. On balance, his ground
game was simply heavier than Federer's, like a truck having an advantage in a
collision with a race car.
In the end these two great
champions gave us all the tennis excellence and drama we could have wished for
on an otherwise lazy Sunday afternoon.