Novak Djokovic, shortly after setting up a first grand slam final meeting with Juan Martin Del Potro, offered kind words to the Argentine for his game style and resilience from countless wrist injuries.
Asked about Del Potro following his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Kei Nishikori on Friday, Djokovic first praised the 2009 US Open champion’s personality and called him a “dear friend” before detailing Del Potro’s return to tennis’ top levels.
“We all felt for his struggles with injuries that kept him away from the tour for two, three years. But he was always a top five player in the eyes I think of everyone,” Djokovic said. “Even when he dropped his ranking and started to, you know, work his way up, but we all knew that he has a capacity and a quality to get to the point where he is at the moment.
“I saw today before the match against Nadal a stat that he’s the player that made the most wins against No. 1’s of the world. That shows the quality that he has, especially in the big matches. He’s a big-time player. He’s a big-match player. He’s a Grand Slam winner. He’s playing the tennis of his life, without a doubt, in the last 15 months.”
Djokovic, a two-time champion in New York himself, later called Del Potro a “gentle giant.” But ahead of their 19th tour-level meeting, the Serbian also turned his sights to his opponent’s game plan. The two are very familiar with each other, having played nine times across 2012 and 2013 alone and thrice more last year.
“We’ve never faced each other in a Grand Slam final, so that’s something new,” Djokovic said. “There are a few things that I have in mind, knowing him from the matches we previously played against each other. I’ll try to take that in consideration and get myself ready.”
The Serbian has won 14 of the 18 head-to-head meetings, including the last three, the only two at the US Open and the last two on hard courts, dating to Del Potro’s win at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. To continue those trends, Djokovic said he will need to do particularly well when facing the Argentine’s serve.
“One of the keys of the match will be return, how well can I return, how many returns I can get back in play, but also try to have some depth in that return, and how accurately I can serve myself,” he said. “I think that’s very important. When you play a big server like Del Potro, you feel pressure also on your service games.”
