Juan Martin Del Potro was on the sideline for the reverse singles rubbers in this weekend’s Davis Cup semifinal tie between Argentina and Great Britain. Fortunately for the visiting Argentines, they did not need him.
After Andy Murray evened the score at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Guido Pella, the stage was set for a decisive fifth rubber on Sunday afternoon in Glasgow, Scotland. The Brits nominated Kyle Edmund and Argentina–somewhat unexpectedly–countered with Leonardo Mayer, who ended up saving the day for his nation by triumphing 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Where was Del Potro? Well, the three-day festivities began with a rematch of the Rio Olympics gold-medal showdown, in which Murray outlasted Del Potro 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 after four hours and two minutes. In terms of grueling efforts, though, the Olympic struggle proved to be little more than the appetizer to the main course.
Even though Murray enjoyed home-court advantage in Glasgow, Del Potro managed to turn the tide in another epic contest that required a whole extra hour and one additional set. The 27-year-old put his country in the lead against Great Britain by upsetting Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in five hours and seven minutes.
“It was the longest match of my career and I won it against Andy playing here (in Glasgow),” Del Potro noted. “It’s very special for me…. I think we both played for five hours at a very high level. I think the crowd enjoyed that and of course when you win these kind of matches, it’s great.”
“It’s very fine margins,” Murray added. “That happens in tennis; happens in sport sometimes. It could have gone either way. He just played a little bit better in the fifth set. But there wasn’t much difference in the match, really.
“I did great today. I’m very proud of how I played. I thought I did fantastic. I fought for every point; tried as best as I could. That’s all you can do.”
Great Britain did all it could do to get back in the tie for a while the host nation seemed like it may be on the way back to the Davis Cup final. In Saturday’s doubles match, Murray teamed up with his brother, Jamie, to beat Del Potro and Mayer 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Two hours and 55 more minutes of tennis left the younger Murray brother hobbled, but not to the extent that he has to sit out on Sunday. It did, however, shelve Del Potro for the rest of the tie.
“My legs hurt,” the 2009 U.S. Open champion explained. “Wrist, back, right shoulder…. But I’m still standing. I fought hard to return to tennis the last two years…. I have to be smart because it is the beginning of a new kind of career. My goal is to finish the year healthy.”
Despite a mind-boggling decision to suit up Del Potro in doubles instead of for a reverse singles rubber, Argentina’s year will finish with the 2016 Davis Cup final in late November on the road against Croatia.
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I want Argentina but I feel like Croatia is gonna win it especially at home
Quotes from the post match interviews (translated from Spanish).
Delpo:”I was already discarded to play today [Sunday] after winning over Andy. It wasn’t made public for the sake of strategy.”
Delpo: “My only shot was vs. Andy, I paid the cost for the longest match I’ve ever played. I played doubles because you run less there.”
Orsanic (captain): “On Friday we already knew Juan couldn’t play today.”
Delpo: “I don’t have Murray’s physique, can’t recover like a top 10. After my longest match ever recovery wasn’t easy. Doubles was the best choice.”
H’mmm. Well, if you want to win slams – or Davis Cups for that matter – you pretty much have to be able to recover from 5 setters like that.