Del Potro upsets Nadal in U.S. Open

With lips still buzzing over Serena Williams’ outburst, Argentine Juan Martin del Potro took center stage and upset one of the world’s best players.

In only his second Grand Slam semifinal ever, Del Potro beat the third-ranked Rafael Nadal in straight sets at the U.S. Open. Hours after Nadal won over Chile's Fernando González in a rain-soaked quarterfinal, Del Potro blitzed the Spaniard with a convincing 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win. Del Potro "kept Nadal on the defensive” throughout the whole match and overpowered a seemingly tired opponent.

The sixth-seeded Del Potro becomes the first Argentine to make a U.S. Open final since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 and he might face top seed Roger Federer. Del Potro promised the capacity crowd that he would battle in Monday afternoon’s final as strongly as he did today:

After the match on court, the 20-year-old Del Potro addressed the fans expecting a Federer-Nadal final, he said, “Yes, I’m sorry.”

With that, he laughed and explained how special the Open is to him. He called it his favorite tournament. “I am close to doing my dream, to win this tournament,” he said. “I think this is the best moment of my life.”

Image- BBC Sport (“Del Potro is into a Grand Slam final for the first time”)
Online Sources- Bloomberg, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, AP