Juan Martin del Potro shares nostalgic video of 2009 US Open win over Roger Federer: Watch

Argentinian tennis star Juan Martin del Potro retweeted a nostalgic video this week from his 2009 US Open win over Swiss maestro Roger Federer. For Juan Martin del Potro, whose career has been plagued by injuries over the last couple of years, the 2009 US Open was a career-defining moment. At a time when there wasn't just a 'big three' but a 'big four', Juan Martin del Potro held his own amongst the greats. 

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Juan Martin del Potro's historic 2009 season

The year 2009 was Juan Martin del Potro's year. From start to finish, his career reached its zenith. Starting out the year, Juan Martin del Potro won his first-ever Auckland Open Masters 250 title. Seeded 8th at the Australian Open, he reached the quarter-finals where he lost to the then No. 2 seed, Roger Federer. At the Indian Wells Master 1000 event, Del Potro suffered a similar fate at the hands of Rafael Nadal, who was the World No. 1. Juan Martin del Potro avenged this loss at the very next event - the Miami Open - where he defeated Nadal in the quarter-finals. He went on to lose the semi-final to Andy Murray. Del Potro suffered consecutive losses against Roger Federer at the semi-finals of the Madrid Open and the French Open in 2009. 

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The run-up to the US Open 

He started his pre-US Open season with a title defence at the Washington Open against No.1 seed Andy Roddick. He also became the first man since Andre Agassi to win consecutive titles at the tournament. From there, del Potro went from strength to strength.

He defeated Nadal and Roddick to reach the final of the Montreal Open which he lost to No. 3 Andy Murray. Juan Martin del Potro was seeded sixth at the US Open 2009. He was in stellar form, but no one would have predicted that we would go all the way, least not while Murray, Nadal and Federer were still in the mix. Del Potro defeated 24th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, 16th seed Marin Cilic and third seed Rafael Nadal to set up a final with Roger Federer. Del Potro had never won a match against Federer heading into this contest. 

In a humongous five-setter, 3–6, 7–6 (7–5), 4–6, 7–6 (7–4), 6–2 Del Potro won his first and only Grand Slam. With this win, Juan Martin del Potro became the only person outside of the Nadal-Djokovic duo to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam final. He also broke Roger Federer's five-year-long US Open win streak and the first to defeat both Nadal and Federer in the same tournament.  Del Potro finished 2009 as the youngest player in the ATP top 10 rankings.

After 2009

Del Potro fell out of the top 250 in 2010 after a wrist injury. He had a few good years, winning a bronze medal at the Olympics in 2012, and reached the finals of the Davis Cup. By 2013 he was back in the top 5 of the ATP rankings and reach his first Grand Slam semi-final in six years, at Wimbledon. After continued injuries, he came back to win a silver at the 2016 Olympics and reached his second US Open final in 2018. He also reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in 2018. He has not played any major tournaments this year on account of having undergone knee surgery. 

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Image Credits: AP