Federer Dethroned By Del Potro in U.S. Open Final

Roger Federer was upset.

Not in the general sense, where he lost in grueling fashion (3-6 7-6 4-6 7-6 6-2) to Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro in a 2009 U.S. Open Final that lasted more than four hours.

He was upset by an umpire: in a moment easily forgotten in the heat of competition, the Swiss Maestro, known for his cool demeanor, had some choice words for chair umpire Jake Garner after del Potro requested a challenge well beyond the two-second challenge request time limit.  (Del Potro was subsequently granted a challenge, which was ruled out.)

Before del Potro signalled for a challenge, he visibly consulted with his coach (interpersonal communication between a coach and player in virtually all forms is illegal at the U.S. Open); a clearly irritated Federer sat down with a couple words, and then was told to be quiet and given a hand signal, at which point Federer flew off the handle and let a couple expletives fly.  "Don't tell me to be quiet, OK?  When I want to talk, I'll talk.  I don't give a [expletive] what he said.  I'm just saying he waited too long.  Don't [expletive] tell me the rules."

In the fifth set, Federer had some more words with Garner when Federer called a shot out.  When Federer denied that the out had been called by a line judge, Garner stated, "Are you a line judge?  No?  Well since you're not a line judge it's not out."  Federer then requested a challenge (again, beyond the two second limit), and was greeted with loud cheers when the ball was, in fact, determined to be out.

Line judges, chair umpires, and clashing egos (both warranted and comically unsubstantiated) aside, a tennis game took place today and ended at roughly 8:30 PM EST. 

Juan Martin del Potro, a 20 year-old, six-and-a-half foot grungy wonder-child, defeated the man tennis critics are hailing the greatest of all time.  It was not a coronation, a Grand-Slam maturation, but simply an awesome display of raw talent combined with a freakish tennis intellect.  Combining an off-speed serve, a thrilling forehand, snappy footwork and a condor's wingspan, del Potro caught Federer looking like he was a minor league batter against Tim Lincecum's fastballs.  

Del Potro had all the makings of a wide-eyed stripling tennis player, frequently displaying emotion while losing confidence in his serve and simply using what worked.  He routinely consulted with his coaches, much to his opponent's chagrin.  However, his childish antics belied supreme talent.  Known as a traditional big server, del Potro's multi-faceted game was on full display, with a good deal of tennis acumen as well.  After giving up the third set on two double faults, he opted to a slower, 100-108 M.P.H. serve, using his usual 130+ M.P.H. first serve only in times of dire need.

Federer, on the other hand, was the exact opposite; his cold, emotionless eyes betrayed the question that was undoubtedly swimming in his mind:  how does he stop him?  With his steady, cunningly difficult ground game being thwarted at seemingly every corner by the young Argentinian, Federer was unable to force del Potro to switch to a backhand approach, or even exploit weaknesses in his footing, a staple of Federer's game.  Instead, replays of his inconsistencies and unforced errors (two involving a one-handed backhand that completely missed their mark) summed up the FedEx's failure to deliver a sixth straight U.S. Open trophy.