Juan Martin del Potro had reviewed match point of his win in the U.S. Open final over Roger Federer many times by late yesterday morning.
It wasn’t hard to do.
“It’s on TV, Internet, everywhere,” the Argentine said at a midtown press conference.
Even more than 12 hours later — and almost no sleep — the 20-year-old six seed still was trying to digest what he had done.
Not only had he won his first Grand Slam, but he had defeated the two top players of the past decade — on consecutive days — to do it.
“It’s amazing that I beat [Nos.] 1 and 2 in two days,” del Potro said yesterday of Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“I know they are much better than me at the moment, but I’m working to improve.”
That could spell trouble for the rest of the tour, since, despite his humility, del Potro seems to have at least approached their level.
His defeat of Federer came after a straight-set wipeout of Nadal in the semis. He also took Federer to five sets in the semis of the French Open.
Federer, meanwhile, said it’s possible the run on Grand Slam finals featuring only him and Nadal may be over — which would be fine with del Potro.
“He knows much of the sport,” said del Potro, who was dealing with a large media contingent from Argentina. “For him to say that, maybe he has a reason.”
Del Potro will have to wait until the Australian Open in January to see what an effect his victory had. First, he’s headed back to his hometown of Tandil, where he would see his parents, who didn’t make the trip to the Open.
They missed quite a match — one del Potro said he wasn’t convinced he could win until it was over.
“When I start the fifth set, I say, ‘Kill or die,’ ” del Potro said. “When I lost the first match point, I started to think bad things, like, ‘I’m going to lose.’ ”
He didn’t.
“The most important is the Slam,” del Potro said. “I beat Roger, but I prefer the trophy and the championship.”