20 for 20: No. 18, Federer d. Del Potro, 2012 Olympics

Last year, for the 50th anniversary of TENNIS Magazine, we focused on the past. Given the tome of stories we’d told, and the trove of players and matches we’d witnessed over the past half-century, it was only natural to look back.

And it was comical to even consider doing something similar this year, for the 20th anniversary of TENNIS.com. So we’re taking the opposite approach, and instead focusing on the future. All throughout the week, we’ll be talking about what’s next for the sport, the website and much more.

It wouldn’t be an anniversary, though, without a countdown. But how do you count down events that haven’t yet happened? By predicting what will come to be.

With that said, we present TENNIS.com’s 20 for 20: Twenty matches that we’ll still be talking about twenty years from now. We’ve restricted this list to matches that have taken place in the last 10 years—or, as 20 for 20 author Steve Tignor has put it, “The Golden Decade.” (If you haven’t read our 50th Anniversary Moments or Tournament of Champions, also written by Steve, I implore you to do so.)

It has been a bountiful time for tennis since TENNIS.com’s inception, and it’s anyone’s guess what the next 20 years will bring. But we believe that each of these matches will sustain the test of time.—Ed McGrogan, Senior Editor

Let’s start with the numbers. At four hours and 26 minutes, this Olympian marathon is the longest singles match in the history of the Games, and the longest best-of-three-set match of the Open era. In fact, it lasted 10 minutes longer than Roger Federer’s 2009 Wimbledon final against Andy Roddick, which went to 16-14 in the fifth. The third set of Federer-Juan Martin del Potro alone was two hours and 43 minutes, and Federer held serve 12 times to stay in it.

When it came to the points and rallies, though, this was crisp, attacking, grass-court tennis all the way, and the Olympic atmosphere on Centre Court was more colorful and festive—Swiss and Argentine fans traded chants—than we were used to seeing there. Del Potro was the better player for most of the first two sets. After winning the first, he had break points in the fifth and ninth games of the second that could have sealed the match, but Federer fought his way through a tense tiebreaker.

In the third set, it was Del Potro who battled back from the brink. In the 15th game, he saved a break point with a net-cord winner that elicited a scream of anguish from Federer. When Federer did break and serve for the match at 10-9, Del Potro broke right back at love. In the 29th game, Federer had three more break points, but Del Potro swept them away with a series of line-clipping shots.

Six games later, Federer broke again, but again holding wasn’t easy. On his first match point, he drilled a backhand into the net; but on his second, Del Potro finally seemed to give into exhaustion and netted a backhand of his own.

At the net, the two friends turned their handshake into a long hug—a nuzzle, really—of congratulations and consolation. It had taken him four trips to the Games, but Federer had finally guaranteed himself a singles medal. Afterward, with the Olympic spirit running high in him, Federer spared a thought for his valiant, vanquished opponent.

“Juan Martin did so well to hang in there,” Federer said. “It was very physical at the end, but also mental. I feel horrible for Juan Martin, but he can be very proud.”

Two days later, the two men celebrated together on the medal stand. While Federer was unable to bounce back against Andy Murray in the gold medal match, Del Potro recovered quickly enough to edge Novak Djokovic for the bronze. But it’s this match between two popular champions that lasted longest on court, and in our memories.