INDIAN WELLS – The Indian Wells final between Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro was certainly one of the best matches of the 2018 season so far. We all knew that Juan Martin del Potro was capable of upsetting Roger Federer with the Argentine defeating the Swiss legend in six separate occasions, including three finals. Two of those six matches were contested at the US Open – a final in 2009 and a quarterfinal in 2017, while the most memorable clash between the two was probably the semifinal at the 2012 London Olympics that Roger won 19-17 in the third.
Del Potro’s win in the Indian Wells final on Sunday was surprising but can’t be considered a massive upset. The Argentine’s potential has never been in question. Besides being a Grand Slam champion, Juan Martin is the only player that has beaten the world No. 1 in nine occasions without ever becoming No. 1 himself. Delpo has won 9 of the 20 matches that he contested against world No. 1s since 2004: He defeated Djokovic three times, Nadal twice and Federer four times. When the forehand and serve are on, del Potro is an unstoppable force even for the best player in the world.
On the other hand, Roger Federer lost an incredible match. The Swiss served for the match at 6-5, 40-15 in the third set but failed to capitalize on those two match-points and surrendered in the tie-breaker.
Federer has lost an astonishing 19 matches in his career after having match-points. In the past 15 months, he lost overall only six matches, three of which after failing to capitalize on multiple match-points.
Here is the list with the infamous 19 matches dropped by Roger Federer despite having match-points in his favor:
2000 – Henman 2MP (Vienna SF, 6-2 6-7 3-6)
2001 – Rafter 1MP (Halle QF, 6-4 6-7 6-7)
2002 – Haas 1MP (Australian Open R16, 6-7 6-4 6-3 4-6 6-8)
2003 – Albert Costa 3MP (Miami QF, 6-7 6-4 6-7)
2005 – Safin 1MP (Australian Open 2005, 7-5 4-6 7-5 6-7 7-9)
2005 – Gasquet 3MP (Monte-Carlo QF, 7-6 2-6 6-7)
2006 – Nadal 2MP (Rome 2006 F, 7-6 6-7 4-6 6-2 6-7)
2010 – Baghdatis 3MP (Indian Wells R32, 7-5 5-7 6-7)
2010 – Berdych 1MP (Miami R16, 4-6 7-6 6-7)
2010 – Djokovic 2MP (US Open SF, 7-5 1-6 7-5 2-6 5-7)
2010 – Monfils 5MP (Bercy SF, 6-7 7-6 6-7)
2011 – Djokovic 2MP (US Open SF, 7-6 6-4 3-6 2-6 5-7)
2013 – Berdych 3MP (Dubai SF, 6-3 6-7 4-6)
2014 – Chardy 1MP (Rome R32, 6-1 3-6 6-7)
2015 – Kyrgios 2MP (Rome R32, 7-6 6-7 6-7)
2016 – Thiem 2MP (Stuttgart SF, 6-3 6-7 4-6)
2017 – Donskoy 3MP (Dubai R16, 6-3 6-7 6-7)
2017 – Haas 1MP (Stuttgart R16, 6-2 6-7 4-6)
2018 – del Potro 3MP (Indian Wells F, 4-6 7-6 6-7)
Federer is an incredible champion with 1,154 wins on the ATP Tour and only 251 losses, but it is almost inexplicable that 19 of those 251 losses came after Roger had match-points in his favor. Nadal lost only seven matches after holding match-points, Murray lost five and Djokovic lost two.
In my opinion, Roger is an emotional champion. After lifting countless trophies in his illustrious career, he still gets very emotional or ends up crying after every important title. Not only Federer is a great champion, but he’s also a great human being. That is why he has millions of fans that get emotional with him around the world.
Other players look colder and more cynical. Perhaps they are cold and cynical for real.
We all wish that Federer’s career will never come to an end. We have other great champions in this golden Era of tennis, but Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and del Potro probably wouldn’t have been as popular if it wasn’t for their classic matches against Roger.
Every time the Swiss takes the court, we always have the opportunity to witness a great show.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
