NEW YORK – Any chance he got, on TV and on the Web, Juan Martin del Potro wanted to watch replays of Roger Federer’s last shot sailing out to end the US Open final.
It was as if del Potro himself could not quite believe that he is now a Grand Slam champion – or, perhaps, could not quite believe that Federer had failed to win his sixth consecutive title at Flushing Meadows and 16th major overall.
“I still feel chills,” del Potro said on Tuesday, a day after his startling 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 comeback victory over Federer. “I can’t explain with words.”
That sums up the way this whole, wild US Open went.
Seeing Federer clutching the runner-up’s silver tray under his left arm late Monday, a blank expression on his face, while del Potro’s big silver trophy was a few feet (meter) away, stood as only the latest of a series of extraordinary images from the past 15 days:
• Serena Williams’ finger-pointing, profanity-laden tirade at a lineswoman;
• Kim Clijsters’ 18-month-old daughter, Jada, cavorting on court, posing for a horde of photographers, after Mum won the US Open.
One of the reasons we follow sports is because of their unscripted nature: You might think you know who’s going to win – and you might think you know what’s going to happen – but you never really know. (AP)