LONDON—I’ve been to two prior Wimbledons and have seen two of the most significant matches in the tournament’s illustrious history. In 2010, I watched John Isner and Nicolas Mahut turn tennis into test cricket over the course of three days and 183 games. Three years later, I watched Andy Murray cathartically end a 77-year championship drought for British men at The Championships. I’ll never forget either event, but neither one was the most memorable match I’ve had the pleasure to witness at the All England Club.
That designation sides with another contest defined by its numbers. At four hours and 43 minutes, it was the longest semifinal in Wimbledon history. If you were a fan, every second was worth savoring, considering its paramount quality from start to finish. If you were Novak Djokovic, who needed three match points and five sets to emerge victorious, the finish was the first time he could actually appreciate his accomplishment.
And if you were Juan Martin del Potro—the hard-luck loser in that 2013 semifinal—you find a way to take something positive from a crushing defeat, as he so often does.
“I remember a great fight, a great battle,” said del Potro, four years after his 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (6), 6-3 loss. “It was a fantastic match for me; I had chances to win that match but I couldn’t do it.
“Novak was exhausted for the final, but I was fine at home.”
It will be hard for del Potro, a fan favorite and one-of-a-kind talent, to ever top the magnitude of his upset of Roger Federer in the 2009 U.S. Open final. Firing some of the most devastating forehands ever seen in competition, the 20-year-old hard-hitting Argentine found himself on top of the tennis world after denying Federer was his third consecutive Grand Slam title. You might even say that del Potro peaked on that very day.
But it’s not as if del Potro hasn’t tried, with all his might, to surpass that level of excellence. Despite numerous surgeries, and valiant if ultimately unsuccessful marathons that would permanently scar lesser players, del Potro soldiers on. There will be more memorable matches to come, partly due to del Potro’s ranking. It’s tennis’ best example of a Catch-22: unable to maintain the consistency needed to return to the Top 10 because of such difficult draws, del Potro is seeded just 29th at Wimbledon, where he’ll open against Thanasi Kokkinakis.
If del Potro, who admitted on Sunday that he isn’t at 100 percent health, can get by the Aussie—who beat Milos Raonic at Queen’s Club—and then one more round, he’ll likely be faced with a Wimbledon rematch against Djokovic.
