Federer confessed why he would like to play the US Open final against Del Potro again

After securing his well-deserved place in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Swiss Roger Federer offered an interesting interview about the most important moments of his career, highlighting the defeat against the Argentine Juan Martin del Potro at the end of US Open 2009 like him match you would like to play again.

Despite starring in unforgettable battles against the Spanish Rafael Nadal and the Serbian Novak Djokovic, his greatest rivals for almost two decades, “His Majesty” did not hesitate to remember that disappointment in New York, where he recorded five titles in a row and would succumb 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1), 4-6 and 7-5 against the promising tandilense, barely 20 years old at the time, in more than four hours of play.

“I should have won. At that time I had a pain in my back during the warm-up and then I wasted many chances. That was one of the games I shouldn’t have lost. Also broke my streak at the US Open“, confessed the former world number 1, 20-time Grand Slam champion and retired in September 2022, within the framework of the Laver Cup, in statements to the Tages Anzeiger media.

On the other hand, the one born in Basel revealed why the fall against the left-handed Manacorí in Wimbledon 2008considered by many to be the best definition of all time, did not suffer in the same way despite interrupting another streak of five consecrations in a row: “Every time a streak was at its limit, everything became even bigger. But at Wimbledon in a way it had to happen that way. Rafa deserved it so much. That’s why later I thought: ‘it’s okay.’ But against del Potro he should have won.”

Finally, the one who won 103 trophies in his career evoked another unexpected result when referring to the defeat in Wimbledon 2019 against the legendary Balkan, after wasting two championship points: “Surprisingly that It didn’t bother me that much. I don’t know why. Maybe because of the boys. Maybe because he had beaten Rafa in the semifinals. But I felt that I was done, that I had played a great tournament, it was a shame that I lost and I moved on. I analyzed it completely objectively for myself. Over the next few days I had occasional flashbacks, but never again after that.”

“It wasn’t traumatic for me. I told myself: ‘From now on it’s just a good memory.’ The last thing I wanted was to go crazy about it. I didn’t deserve it because I really played well. I still remember coming home after the final and the boys running towards me. I told them I needed five minutes. I needed to vent for a while and lie down in bed. “Then I went down to the living room, where there were 30 people, and we had a good afternoon together,” concluded Federer, who would finally finish 23-27 in the history against ‘Nole’.