AFTER five years, it ended in no blink of an eyelash, but in the stages of denial that Roger Federer again would find a way.
The match turned when, after double faulting away the third set, Juan Martin del Potro wisely subtracted 15-20 miles an hour from his first serve, when he pounded an ace and another forehand winner just when the greatest player who ever lived was two points away from a four-set victory. The 20-year-old quickly took complete control of a tiebreaker for the second time, then broke Federer with yet another forehand winner to go up 2-0 in the fifth set.
From there, del Potro, already a big thing at 6-foot-6, and probably the next Big Thing in tennis, took considerably less time to put the greatest player who ever lived away than it takes Serena Williams to do the right thing.
Del Potro, starting nervously, was calmed by exactly half of Federer’s first serves missing along with his opportunity to go up two breaks in the second set. Even up 2-1 Federer continued to have the harder time holding, leaving most of what he had going for him the possibility the moment would get too big for his opponent.
All that ended up being too big was a del Potro forehand that surprisingly Federer said wasn’t among the best or even as good as the kid’s backhand. And he didn’t mean that backhandedly either.
“He hung in there, in the end was the better man,” Federer shrugged, looking a lot less shocked than anybody should have been considering del Potro creamed Rafael Nadal Sunday after almost denying Federer his one French Open championship in June.
Paris and regaining his title at Wimbledon were Federer’s big ones of the summer, leaving him a lot less for which to apologize than Williams, who on Day Three, finally used the “A” word and still managed to make skins crawl.
Even in defeat, Federer continues to write perhaps the greatest tennis story ever told. Whatever corporate flak writes Serena’s stuff needs work. We don’t want to be told by Serena how much “integrity” she has when for three days, she has shown little.
Williams loyalists at yesterday afternoon’s doubles match, of course, would be offended when Patrick McEnroe, following up a fluff non-answer, asked her “if anything had changed in the last 24 hours” to prompt this stronger apology.
It was not up to sister Venus, who rudely cut McEnroe off, to decide along with the fans “that it’s time to move on.” That will be up to both Bill Babcock, the Grand Slam Administrator pondering a suspension of Williams, and a public that watched sweet Serena reveal herself to be a Leona Helmsley from the ‘hood.
Williams is not losing any sleep, about the only thing she probably had in common last night with Federer, who couldn’t make himself cry.
Pete Sampras, who won 14 Slams, was left at Wimbledon when Federer won his record 15th, replaced yesterday at Arthur Ashe Stadium by Jack Nicklaus and his 18 majors. Indeed, Federer is going to have to invent further reasons to win or, maybe more to the point, reasons not to lose.
“I’ve had an unbelievable [2009], been in all the major finals, winning two and losing two in five sets,” he said. “I was two points from the match today, but this year has been amazing. I got married, had kids, don’t know what else I would want.
“Some (losses) hit you more than others.”
It may take a few more until they again begin to hit as hard as del Potro.