Del Potro edges Blake in classic
By Matt Cronin
US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro is determined to put in a much better performance than he did at last year’s Australian Open, when he was buried by Roger Federer. He may have gained a new legion of fans after his dramatic 6-4 6-7(3) 5-7 6-3 10-8 victory over James Blake on Wednesday at Hisense Arena.
In the best match on the men’s side to date, del Potro had to come up with every shot in the book to repel the veteran American, who fought off one break point after another late in the fifth set in an attempt to pull off what could have been one of the most critical victories of his career.
But in the end, it was the fourth-seeded del Potro who triumphed. The Argentine managed to come with series of huge serves and blinding groundstrokes in the clutch during the latter stages of the four hour and 17 minute contest, which saw both men call the trainer in to treat leg ailments.
“As soon as I let any ball sit up a little, he was taking it to me,” Blake said. “That’s my goal too, and I had chances at them and made some mistakes. That's the difference. You miss a couple balls and he’s moving on, and I'm not. But that’s why he won the US Open and is No. 4 in the world.”
Del Potro finished with 205 total points to 200 from Blake, both men finished with 60 unforced errors and amazingly, Blake had 19 more winners. But it was del Potro who knew when to seize the day, while Blake was forced to face another disappointing five-set loss at a Grand Slam.
He’s had way too many close calls that have gone his opponents’ way.
“It’s tough to rank the [five set losses] but right now it hurts pretty bad,” said Blake. “I had plenty of messages from people back home who were up until 5am watching me, and I don’t even want to respond to many. I just feel bad that they were up watching and are probably going to sleep a little disappointed. Luckily for me they will all be my friends tomorrow, which will help me get through after I stop beating myself up for a few hours or few days.”
Del Potro will now face Florian Mayer of Germany, who upset 29th seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia 4-6 6-4 7-6(2) 6-1.
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2010-01-20/201001201263989032062.html?promo=hp_topcomments
This match was breathtaking. It kept me awake all night.
ReplyDelete