Indian Wells Masters 1000: the other grand final that Del Potro won against Federer and the title he dedicated to his dog

What would Juan Martín Del Potro’s career have been without so many physical problems? It is true that injuries are commonplace for the vast majority of professional tennis players, especially understanding the demands of remaining at a high level, as the Tandil native has suffered more than anyone with his body.

He has had problems with his back (2007 and 2008), right thigh (2008), abdomen (2009), right wrist (2009 and 2010), hip (2011), right shoulder (2011), left knee (2012), left wrist ( 2012), 2013, 2014 and 2018), groin (2017) and right knee (2018 and 2019). And Argentine tennis was unable to discover the true potential of one of the best players in its entire history.

Even so, it was enough for him to write some of the most glorious pages of national sport. He was the fourth Albiceleste singles player to win a Grand Slam after that Guillermo Vilas, Gabriela Sabatini AND Gastone Gaudio, He won two Olympic medals (bronze in London 2012 and silver in Rio 2016) and carried the team on his shoulders so much so that Argentina won its first Davis Cup, again in 2016, with exceptional victories against Andy Murray in the semi-final and Marin Cilic in the final. the final. .

And in 2018, a Indian wells against Roger Federer, He had another one of those gigantic triumphs. No one imagined that this would be the last of her 22 titles, but it turned out to be the case. As for the American Masters 1000, which will meet the champion of the 2024 edition on Sunday, the memory of Delpo’s last great joy, one of two South American champions in the Californian desert (the other was Chilean Marcelo Ríos in 1998).

He had successfully overcome an operation on his left wrist that had kept him off the pitch for practically all of 2015, he recovered and managed to find continuity from mid-2016 to the end of 2018. It was what he needed to once again demonstrate his its enormous hierarchy.

He arrived at the Rio Olympic Games in 141st place in the ranking and was unlucky that in the first round it fell to him Novak Djokovic Number one in the world. Or perhaps it was the Serbian’s bad luck, who was two long tie-break He saw his Olympic dream vanish once again. So, while he fought against the instability that his body transmitted to him, the Argentine found himself with the best version of him. Then he fell Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and finished second. I was back.

The ascending curve continues and in 2018 the best Del Potro definitively returns, the one who can beat anyone, even the best Roger Federer.

The Swiss had started the year undefeated with titles at the Australian Open and the ATP 500 in Rotterdam, which allowed him to become the oldest number one in history at 36 years and six months and seemed invincible. Until he met Del Potro in Indian Wells.

It was one of the most attractive finals in recent times in the Masters 1000: due to the hierarchy of the opponents, the high intensity shown in the two hours and 42 minutes of the match and the sudden changes in the script that made its definition even more exciting. It was full of drama.

The development of a cinematic ending

Del Potro knew he had to be firm on serve to beat the last great version of a legend like Federer and he succeeded more than in the first set: he fielded 76.5% of his first serves and 80% of his first serves. seconds, he didn’t even have one breaking point against and broke in the fifth Games go ahead 6-4 on the scoreboard.

The second set was a real battle. The Swiss raised his level and the match became very balanced. Nobody gave up until an unforced error from the Argentine left him very compromised: 4-5 and 15-40, double fixed point against. With cold blood, another of the factors that explain his success in tennis, he remained alive. He saved the first with a guide cross that ended up in the belt and was then favored by a mistake by his rival with that same shot. Everything was the same again: 5-5.

Basel had three new set points as they went ahead 6-3 in the playoff and he would do it with a service winner at 6-5. He clenched his fist and approached the chair, relieved, but del Potro asked for the hawk’s eye. The ball had disappeared by a few millimeters. Off balance, Federer committed a double fault and in the change of court, with the point 6-6, exploded in anger against the referee, Fergus Murphy. I scolded him for it challenge It had been late.

At 8-7 the first came match points for Torre de Tandil, who would have regretted it because he was in a good position to win with a new one winner reverse forehand, his best shot, but it stayed in the net.

Finally, on his seventh fixed point, the world number one took 10-8. He vented his anger with some insults in the air. And now the anger lies with the Argentine, who attacked the chair umpire because the public was screaming between one of his serves and another. There was more entertainment.

The drama would continue into the third set. In a situation very similar to that of the second partial, Federer broke in the ninth game and scored three meeting points. Del Potro, still on the ropes, brings out his steely mind to prolong the match.

And finally, in a new one playoff, who played sensationally, won 7-2 sealing one of the most extraordinary victories of his career: 6-4, 6-7 and 7-6. Moments after the coronation, she approached the camera and remembered César, his dog, who had died a month before him and whom she called his “faithful companion”.

“The truth is that I was very angry in the second set, but it was with the referee and not with the people, to whom I am very grateful for all the love and affection they have given me during this week”, said the champion after the match.

“I’m still shaking because I beat a great guy like Federer, who is a great player and a friend” He commented this in response to the praise previously expressed by His Majesty, who had maintained that “the match was balanced, but Del Potro deserved the victory”.

Del Potro’s sad farewell

That 2018 would continue very well for Juan Martín Del Potro. He reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros, the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and, nine years after his memorable US Open title against Federer, he returned to play the final of the last Grand Slam of the season, losing to Novak Djokovic.

He finished the season as world number five, the first time in the Top Ten since 2014, but A new injury would hit him hard. Very difficult. It was against Borna Coric at the Shanghai Masters 1000, at the end of the season and when he was preparing to play the Masters Tournament after five years. He slipped while going to look for a free fall shot from Croatian, He hit his right knee on the ground and fractured his kneecap.

From that moment on he was never the same again. Since then he has played only 13 matches (eight wins and five losses) and the last one was against Federico Delbonis at the 2022 Argentina Open. He has not officially retired, but he let it be known in the run-up to that match at Prato di Buenos Aires, Tennis. “I have to be honest with what I feel and make sure the message is understood well. It’s more of a goodbye than a miraculous return,” he announced through tears in an emotional press conference.

And he provided details of his condition: “My knee gives me a nightmare. When I used to go to Tandil, I used to drive straight for three and a half hours and now I have to stop to stretch my leg.”

The memories remain, glorious memories.