Del Potro, Not Federer, Wins U.S. Open

Juan Martin del Potro has won the 2009 U.S. Open ending the winning streak of reigning champion, Roger Federer.  I’m not going to lie – I thought Federer probably had this in the bag but this result just goes to show that we should never assume anything until it’s over!

image: TSN

The young Argentine stunned the Swiss star in five sets in his first-ever Grand Slam final with a score of 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.  Del Potro took home some amazing prizes – $1.6 million for winning, $250,000 for finishing third in the U.S. Open Series and a Lexus IS convertible.   Federer took home $800,000 but I’m sure he’ll still be able to survive off of the zillions of dollars he makes in endorsements and from his other wins.

Del Potro is the first Argentine to win the U.S. Open since Guillermo Vilas’ victory back in 1977.  “It’s amazing for South America and especially for me,” said del Potro. “I think this has been in my mind, forever in my life. I don’t have words to explain it.  I had two dreams with this U.S. Open. This is one of them.  The other one is to play like Roger. One is done, but I need to improve a lot.” How flattering!

Of the loss, Federer said: “Of course I would have loved to win, but I had an unbelievable run here.  I would have never thought, five or six years ago I would have won 40 matches in a row here. It’s been an amazing run for me.”

Congratulations to del Potro!  This must be an incredible moment for him!