The owner of one of the biggest forehands in the game will come up against one of the best returners the sport has ever known when two former US Open champions battle for the final major of the year at the 2018 US Open final Sunday.
2009 US Open winner and No. 3 seed Juan Martin del Potro will meet two-time champion and sixth-seeded Novak Djokovic inside Arthur Ashe Stadium with the ultimate bragging rights on the line.
For Djokovic, it’s his eighth final in New York and his second major championship match in in as many months after claiming his fourth Wimbledon title earlier this summer. It’s an impressive return for someone who had elbow surgery in January and was back on the courts in March.
Del Potro, meanwhile, is into just his second-ever major final, in the city where he won his one and only championship almost a decade ago. He, too, knows all about rehabilitating from injury — he missed more than two years with surgeries on both wrists and seriously contemplated stepping away from the sport.
Djokovic leads the head-to-head with a convincing 14-4 record, including 4-0 at majors and 2-0 at the ATP finals, with del Potro’s most recent win against the former world No. 1 coming at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the second time in two Olympic cycles the Argentine defeated Djokovic on the international stage.
Here’s more on how Djokovic and del Potro reached the final and what they can expect in Sunday’s title showdown.
Juan Martin del Potro
Heralded as a “gentle giant” by Djokovic earlier this week, del Potro says he enters the final against his close friend as an underdog. Then again, del Potro was also not expected to prevail when he faced Roger Federer on this court on finals weekend nine years ago, and we all rememberwhat happened in that five-set thriller.
The 29-year-old feels a special connection with New York City — it’s the major he grew up watching back home in Tandil when he was child and it’s the place where he seems to feed off the energy of the crowd more than at any other tournament.
"When I was a kid, I mix watching soccer and the US Open, that's it," del Potro said. "That's what I say that this could be my favorite tournament. Then I came here, playing every year. I played well. I got too much energy from the crowd. I have a lot of fans who came specifically to this tournament.
"I'm here now. It will be a difficult match, of course. But anyway, I think I've been doing a good tournament. And in the finals, anything can happen. If I win, great. If not, I been playing a great tournament and I will be happy anyways."
Del Potro’s road to the final has been a little more difficult than Djokovic's path. While Djokovic has faced two seeds and nobody inside the Top 20, del Potro has played four seeds in his past four matches, including No. 20 seed Borna Coric in the fourth round, No. 11 seed and top-ranked American John Isner in the quarterfinals and world No. 1 Rafa Nadal in Friday’s semifinal.
Del Potro was forced to fight back from a set down against Isner, prevailing in a three-hour and 31-minute battle that was dominated by big serving and short points.
After a tense, high-quality opening set against Nadal, it seemed as though del Potro was in for another lengthy fight against one of the sport’s ultimate competitiors, but the Spaniard was forced to retire at the end of the second set, giving del Potro a slight reprieve, something that could be crucial in his recovery ahead of the final.
Del Potro is playing his best tennis in a decade, peaking at exactly the right moment. This is his first major final since his maiden Slam nine years ago, while 2018 marks the first time that he’s reached the quarterfinals or better at three consecutive majors in his professional career.
For a player who considered retiring three years ago after repeated wrist problems, a win on Sunday would be the ultimate reward for his perseverance.
"I'm exciting to keep surprising the tennis world, as I did with myself," said del Potro, who is looking to become the second Argenitine in history to win more than one major, along with Guillermo Vilas. "Never knows what could happen in the future. So I'm happy just to be a tennis player again after all my wrist problems.
"I cannot believe that I will have a chance to play another Grand Slam finals in here, which is my favorite tournament. So it would be special to me. Would be a big challenge, as well, because I've been fighting with many, many problems to get in this moment."
Novak Djokovic
The Serbian has played his way into the tournament superbly, winning a dozen consecutive sets after dropping one to Marton Fucsovics in the opening round and then another to Tennys Sandgren two days later. Djokovic’s three-hour win over Fucsovics was his longest match of the fortnight so far, but he’s only spent 42 more minutes on the court than his opponent
Djokovic reached the final without playing a Top-20 player and, should he beat del Potro, it will mark the first time in his career that he’s won a major trophy without having to go through at least one of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Andy Murray.
"I've played him many times on different occasions," Djokovic said of del Potro. "We've never faced each other in a Grand Slam final, so that's something new. But I know what's expecting me. I'll try to prepare myself as best as I can."
Djokovic lifted the trophy here in 2011 and again in 2015, but he’s also suffered five defeats of championship Sunay, including in 2016 in his last visit to the Big Apple. He’s won more matches at Flushing Meadows than at any other major, and with six Australian Opens in his cabinet, he’s proven himself to be one of the best hard-court players of the Open era.
He's bidding to win his third US Open and his 14th Grand Slam singles crown. His streak of 51 consecutive appearances at majors was snapped in New York last year, but after reaching the fourth round in Melbourne, the quarters in Paris and winning the title in London, it’s fair to say he’s back to playing some of his best tennis.
"It's definitely one of my favorite tournaments to play because of the conditions and because of the fact that I've played so well in each year that I keep on coming back to the US Open," he said. "I know that I feel very comfortable here. It just allows me to feel more comfortable playing, starting the tournament and going through it.
"These are pinnacles of our sport: majors. It's where you want to play your best. There is something special about them. Two-week-long event, best-of-five. Especially the top players, they always try to set their own form, so to say, around the Grand Slams because that's where they want to play their best."
