In a Grand Slam final showdown that was a tale of two comebacks, Novak Djokovic got the best of Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 on Sunday evening at the U.S. Open. Djokovic triumphed in New York for a third time and captured his 14th career major title after three hours and 15 minutes.
The Serb seized control with a surprising service break from 40-0 down at 4-3 in the first set. That allowed him to serve things out in the ninth game, which he did in relatively routine fashion.
This one packed almost all of its drama into an incredible second frame of play, in which Del Potro recovered from a 3-1 deficit to lead 4-3 before coming tantalizingly close to taking a 5-3 advantage. Djokovic, however, survived a wild service game that lasted more than 20 minutes to hold for 4-4. The world No. 6 (No. 3 on Monday) eventually forced a tiebreaker and battled back from an early mini-break deficit to win it seven points to four.
Del Potro did not go down without a fight, as he broke back for 2-3 in the third. But Djokovic still had all of the momentum and a fuller gas tank, so he was quick to regain the upper hand. It was all but over for the 29-year-old Argentine when he dropped serve one more time at 3-4, and Djokovic’s hold one game later propelled him past the finish line.
Highlights:
“I’m very sad for being a loser today,” admitted Del Potro, who was back in a slam final for the first time since winning the 2009 U.S. Open–a triumph that preceded all kinds of wrist problems. “But Novak deserved to take the trophy. He played a great match; very smart game. I had my opportunities during (the) second and third set.
“But I was playing almost at the limit all the time, looking for winners with my forehands, backhands, and I couldn’t make it because Novak [was] there every time. He’s a great champion, so I’m glad for him.”
Coming back from physical problems of his own, Djokovic has raised his level to incredible heights after missing the second half of 2017 and struggling through the first four months of 2018. He has now won back-to-back slam titles (also Wimbledon) to go along with his first-ever Cincinnati triumph.
“If you told me in February this year when I got the surgery that I’ll win Wimbledon, U.S. Open, and Cincinnati, (it) would be hard to believe,” the 31-year-old commented. “But at the same time there was always part of me that imagined and believed and hoped that I can get back on the desired level of tennis very soon. I expected, to be honest, after surgery that I’ll be back on a high level quite fast. But it took me actually four months. In that process, I learned a lot about myself, learned to be patient–which was never really a stronger side of me.
“But at the same time, life showed me that it takes time for good things; it takes time to really build them, for things to fall into place, so you can center yourself, balance yourself, and thrive. The last two months have been terrific.”
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congrats to the Djoker
Congrats Novak. What a turnaround from where you were during French open to where you are today. It scares me to think what you may do next year as when you are on…it’s really difficult to get past you. The defense in the final was just impenetrable .
Congrats to Djoko and his true fans. As I said during Wimbledon, Djoko’s defense is/was just incredible, he simply could get to any ball and returned them with interest. His ability to stay in the point no matter what is unbelievable; one has to attack relentlessly or takes more risk or throws in some varieties to have a chance to beat him.
He’s now no.3 in the rankings and no.2 in the race, and has 14 slams, well done! If Rafa is physically fit and healthy, they may resume their rivalry probably next year; Stan may be a spoiler as he’s getting back on track now. Hope the top few guys won’t get Stan in R1 or the early rounds at the slams next year!
Kei is now no.10 in the race, well done; waiting for Stan to get back to top ten, hopefully soon as he’s a dangerous floater now.
Rafa, Djoko, Fed, Delpo, Cilic and Sasha are confirmed YE top ten imo. I think Thiem, Anderson too, so the next two places, I hope Kei can make it and the remaining one may be Isner or Goffin?
Thiem and Anderson have about a 400 point lead over Isner, more like 1000 over Goffin and Tsitsipas, who is only 3 points behind Goffin. I think it’s most likely that the current top 8 will go to the WTF. Isner doesn’t play that well outside the US and it isn’t likely that Goffin will score a big win. The faster hard courts of the fall swing will probably give Thiem some problems but he plays a lot so will be adding points. With DelPo and Djokovic both hot and Federer motivated (he says) I don’t see anyone else getting any big wins.
Nishikori will probably win in Japan, which would give him 500 points.
grassgoat SEPTEMBER 8, 2018 AT 4:33 AM
NFTW
#14
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congrats novak.
Congrats to Novak and his fans. I thought he played good but not great. But he really didn’t need to, as delpo wasn’t at his best. He served great, but didn’t hit his forehand that well. Made it a bit of a dud of a match, imo. Nadal-Thiem was higher quality and much more exciting. Still, all credit to Djokovic. I’d never have picked him to win two slams this year.
Djoker is no where near his 2015 level and yet he is winning easily. I think next gen of starts have disaappointed big time. Dimitrov and Zverev are two of the worst players. I hope Dimitrov goes out of top 16 soon and let some one in who is more deserving.
Congrats to Djoker’s fans , he’s looking invincible again.
I hope Rafa recovers his fitness soon too so he can try to give Nole a run for his money.
I went to bed early in the second set. Seems like the occasion got to Delpo because we know he can play better. Feel sad and disappointed for him. Congrats to Rc on Nole ‘s win and tying Sampras with #14!
I think the slow court of USO didn’t help Delpo’s game. I think the court was a quicker one in 2009 when he won it.
I like to compare Delpo to Stan, as both could hit with raw power and are capable of blowing anyone off the court. I think Delpo’s game is more suitable for the quick courts, whilst Stan’s, because of his big swing and needs more time to set up his shots, so slower courts suit him more. Perhaps this USO court will suit Stan’s game more and the AO quicker court will suit Delpo more. We’ll see.
I was thinking this afternoon that the uso and ao courts have kind of switched over. People may start saying Nole is the overwhelming fave for the ao because he won so many before but that was on a very slow court. Delpo and fed are both better suited to the ao court now while I don’t think Nole plays so well on the faster surface.
I really want rafa to make sure he has time in the off season to work on his serve. With a better serve he would have beaten Nole at wimby even on an indoor court and got through his uso matches much quicker so that he probably wouldn’t have got injured.
Yeah Amy, I happen to agree with you. The AO and USO have switched over, and that’s why Fed could win at AO whilst his results at the USO were disappointing by his standard. I’ve to add in Cilic, who seems to do better on quick courts so the AO suits him better, in addition to Wimbledon.
I read somewhere that the organizers at USO purposely slowed down the court this year, I don’t understand why. With humidity and hot weather this year, the courts were even slower, perhaps that’s why Thiem was doing well there this year; Rafa didn’t like slow courts, he preferred medium to fast courts with good bounces, so the slowed down courts this year made him grind even more and his knee really suffered.
Delpo also was made to work harder when attacking; Djoko was used to grinding and slower HCs favored him (AO prior to 2017/Miami/IW where he had 17 titles in total at those three, compared to 8 at Canada/Cincy/NY).
I think going forward, if the AO is on quicker courts and USO remained as slow as it was this year, then Djoko may have better success at the USO than at the AO.
Rafa is out of Davis cup and it seems unclear how long it is going to take for the tendinitis to heal. Given the mistakes he made last autumn i hope he errs on the side of caution and shuts down the whole autumn season if necessary.
who cares weather dull is out or not. this is the thread about djoker winning his 14th slam. please do not pollute this pristine thread with the cheater details. thanks.
#RetirementGoat #OperacionPuerto #FuentesClinic
Why? You stink up every thread with toxic crap about Rafa!
Because she’s fleur!
Ha ha NNY,nice one.
We certainly care about DC and about Rafa! Rafa should just skip DC and the Asian swing, gets up to six weeks of rehab, practices to improve his serve and then comes back for the indoor swing. He’ll be fresh physically while the others will be physically tired by then; will be good for him to start winning indoors and gains some match plays and ranking points.
He didn’t stop last year after winning USO, played LC, followed by Beijing and Shanghai, and then Paris Masters(withdrawn at QF stage) and played one match at WTF. He wasn’t giving his body much rest back then so all the injury issues. I hope he skips the Asian swing this year.
dull lost to Millman. so much for PEDs.
Federer WAS PEDerer winning slams at 36.5 years old when the game is faster and more physically demanding than it’s ever been.
And it makes me wonder…
I thought that Delpo played his best in the match with Rafa at Wimbledon. That match was incredible, both guys giving it their all.
For whatever reason Delpo was not able to play at that level. Credit does go to
Novak for doing what he had to do to win. It’s been quite a turnaround for him.
After two tough years he is back. Congratulations to him and his true fans.
Congrats to Novak , his true fans and /or true tennisfans
lol. naydull police in full force.
#MouratoglouOnCourtCoaching
Ped had a good run. Better living through chemistry can only take you so far even when. Ask Lance Armstrong, one of the oldest players to win the TdF.
In 2015 Ped said, “I’ve been in Dubai for 10 years now and I’ve been tested once in 10 years; that’s not okay for me. I get tested more in Switzerland because a tester lives in my village. He comes and sees me the day after my surgery and a week later.”
Why spend so much time in Dubai?
And it makes me wonder…
#feRPect
Congrats Novak! I could see this coming! Novak’s defense is just amazing along with his fitness level! How can he be so energetic when he shaded quite a few pounds since the last time he played a final in Cincy is beyond me…
Great achievement for Novak! Congrats to his nice fans hereI I guess its hits dominance time again…
Thanks for you kind words Natashao.
Novak’s defense and his resolve is amazing. And his recovery is remarkable and has to be a well-planned regimen. His legs had spring in them and the elasticity was there – everything mentally and emotionally together – gosh I’m just really impressed. After the Millman match which was three sets: two sets over an hour each and the last set just under and hour of intense long rallies and grinding. Then the match v Kei was easier, I think in part due to Kei’s being worn down after his fight with Cilic in the heat. By Sunday v Delpo, Novak was ready. Novak knows how to pull it all together to keep going and winning even if it’s winning ugly like it was v Millman. I hope he takes it easy this fall, takes good care of himself.
Congrats Nole and Nole-family! #14
Nole
Aus open- rf
RG – thiem
Wimbledon- Murray/ rf
Us open – djokovic/ thiem
Here’s an interesting one questioning the dominance of the BIG THREE in tennis … http://www.138mph.com/federer-nadal-and-djokovic-the-tyranny-of-the-big-three/