With the current suspension of the ATP and WTA Tours, we are opening up our US Open vault to bring you full match videos of classic encounters through the years in New York.
Join us Saturday at 4 p.m. ET for the latest #USOpenClassics on Facebook Live, Twitter and Oculus Venues. Next up in the series is a full-match live stream of the 2017 fourth-round match between Juan Martin del Potro and Dominic Thiem. The full match will be posted on Sunday on the US Open YouTube Channel.
Juan Martin del Potro secured his status as a US Open legend in 2009, when he shocked five-time defending champion Roger Federer in a five-set final to earn his first Grand Slam title at the age of 20.
The Argentine's love affair with New York burned bright again in 2018, when he summoned life from the Grandstand crowd to lift himself off the canvas and overcome illness and a two-set deficit against No. 6 seed Dominic Thiem.
Suffering from flu and fever, the Argentine won just three games in a quick opening two sets, and was on the brink of retiring from the match: "I was thinking to retire in the middle of the second set because I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move well," he told the press. "Dominic was dominating the match so easily."
But he managed an early break in set three, then used the crowd's energy to fuel one of the most memorable comebacks in US Open history. Even after he took the third set, del Potro still had a mountain to climb. At many instances, it appeared that Thiem was back in control—never more so than when the Austrian brought up match point on two occasions.
Amidst a chorus of "Ole Delpo" chants, the Tower of Tandil managed to find the finish line after over three-and-a-half hours.
"I don't know how I was able to win this match... I fought like this because of these guys," del Potro said in an on-court interview, motioning to the crowd.
Watch the full #USOpenClassics match via Facebook Live,Twitter and Oculus Venues on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. For a coming attraction, view the highlights below.
