Juan Martin Del Potro survived a 188-minute Olympic thriller to defeat Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(5), to reach his maiden Olympic final.
It could be forgiven to mistaken the atmosphere inside the Olympic Tennis Centre for one you would normally associate with the FAFA World Cup. In one area there was an army of blue-and-white shirt wearing Argentines cheering for Del Potro and on the other side were a sea of red fans backing Nadal.
The semi finals in Rio marked the resumption of the rivalry between the two men after a three-year hiatus. Nadal lead their head-to-head 8-4 prior to Rio, but records are irrelevant when it comes to the Olympic Games.
Billed by many as the match of the day in Rio, both men were able to live up to the hype by producing an array of spectacular tennis. Del Potro was the first to strike when he ended a tiring 30-shot rally with a blistering forehand winner to break in the first game of the match. The strong start by the Argentine was demolished as Nadal valiantly responded by breaking back to love a couple games later. It seemed certain that the thrilling opening set would be decided in a tiebreaker, however, Nadal had other plans. Hitting a forehand down the line, the Spaniard rewarded himself with two chances to break and clinch the first set. After 56 minutes, Nadal sealed the proceedings after a Del Potro forehand into the net.
Nadal’s work was far from done against an inspired Del Potro, who ended Novak Djokovic’s Olympic dream earlier this week. Hammering a forehand winner, the Argentine grabbed the early break in the second set to reignite his gold medal hopes. Unlike the first set, Nadal was unable to find a solution to dismantle his opponents consistent serve. The mighty comeback from the former US Open champion was underway after his serve was unsuccessfully returned by his Spanish nemesis, forcing the match to a decider.
With a potential gold medal at stake, the final set saw a titanic battle between both men. First, it was Del Potro, who missed out on a chance to break at the start of the decider. Then three games later, Nadal failed to convert twice as every shot played became vital to the match outcome. The brick wall set by both man was finally broken at 4-4. A tentative Nadal hit a lob shot far beyond the baseline to hand Del Potro a trio of chances to break and serve for the match. He converted on his second with another Nadal error.
Two-hours-and-40-minutes after the first struck of the ball, Del Potro was just fours points away from closing in on his Olympic dream, but failed to seal the match as Nadal fist-pumped his way to level 5-5 as a decisive tiebreaker beckoned.
The volley was good, but the celebration was even better. #Nadal #Delpotro pic.twitter.com/nDH6huzzxV
— Mathias Ask (@MathiasAsk) 13 August 2016
Del Potro had gotten so near, but was still so far in the semifinal battle. Starting the tiebreak by breaking Nadal, he feared the worst after the third seed broke back to return proceedings back on serve at 5-6. Del Potro still has one match point and this time his opponent had to serve to stay in the match. The Argentine’s dream came true after a Nadal forehand drifted wide.
#VIDEO #Rio2016 El punto final de Del Potro ante Nadal para clasificar a la final de los #JuegosOlimpicos pic.twitter.com/pOhxDmjKGT
— La Capital – Rosario (@lacapital) 13 August 2016
Murray Awaits
The Argentine will have less than 24 hours to recover from his titanic clash. In Sunday’s gold medal match, he will play a best-of-five-set game against defending champion Andy Murray. Murray moved to the final after easing his way past Kei Nishikori. With the Wimbledon title and the world No.2 ranking to his name, Murray will be the stand out favourite. Nevertheless, the Brit is aware of the danger he faces.
“Juan Martin has played great this event. Again I think he obviously gained a lot of confidence from his win against Novak, and he won against Wawrinka at Wimbledon, so he’s starting to get back to a level he can play at after his wrist problems. It’s good for him.” Murray said.
Del Potro currently trails 2-5 in his head-to-head against Murray.
