After a women's final distracted by the role of the umpire, the men's final was all about tennis. Juan Martin del Potro had his chances but Novak Djokovic was putting pressure on him from the start of the match.
Image: Reuters/USA Today/R. Deutsch
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The match ended with a score of 6-3, 7-6 (4) 6-3 as the Serbian Novak Djokovic fell to the court to celebrate his third US Open title after a match lasting three hours and 15 minutes.
With the win, Djokovic matched Pete Sampras' record of a 14th Grand Slam title to go joint-third with the American on the all-time winners list. Roger Federer has 20 titles and Rafael Nadal 17. "I want to say Pete, I love you, you're my idol," said Djokovic of Sampras after winning the match.
The world-ranked number 6 took the first set 6-3 and a had 3-1 lead in the second before del Potro broke back and took the set to a tie-break. Then the Argentine went up 3-1 before Djokovic recovered to take it, 7-4.
The third set looked as though del Potro would continue his fight, but Djokovic gained a break point from a 22-shot rally and took a 3-1 lead when del Potro fired a backhand long on the next point. Although the 29-year-old del Potro broke back, a 24-shot rally was key as Djokovic took a 5-3 lead to then serve for the match. He won with an overhead shot.
Djokovic hit 32 winning shots and made 38 unforced errors, del Potro hit 31 winners and 47 errors.
Juan Martin del PotroImage: Reuters/USA Today/G. Burke
Coming off a win on the grass courts at Wimbledon in July, the 31-year-old Djokovic had looked strong all through the two weeks of the US Open. He only lost one set in the whole tournament, and that in the first round.
Del Potro last won the US Open, his first major, in 2009. But after four operations for wrist injuries, the 29-year-old Argentine had become known for the problems keeping him off the court, rather than for wins on it.
He told the crowd it was his favorite tournament and paid tribute to other leading players including Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer: "Hopefully he, Rafa, Roger will still fight for Grand Slams, because it is so nice to watch them fighting for the history," del Potro said. "We just do what we can against them. But Novak has everything to make records in this sport."
After nine years on his way to a second final, del Potro did not drop a set until his quarter final against John Isner, and only played two sets against Rafael Nadal in the semifinal before the Spaniard had to retire with a knee injury.
jm/kl (Reuters, AP)
US Open: The big one in the Big Apple
"If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere," as Frank Sinatra once put it. This statement could just as easily be applied to the loudest, most demanding tennis tournament in the world, the US Open.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Samad
The sky is the limit
Nowak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka battled it out on in the men's final on Center Court in 2016. This photo gives you a rough impression of the view you would have had if you had managed to get yourself a ticket for a seat in the nosebleeds. Wawrinka would go on to win this duel.
Image: Getty Images/A. Bello
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe used a wooden racket when he played in the Forest Hills stadium in Queens, New York in 1965. In 1978, the tournament moved to its larger site at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. The main court, which holds more than 22,000 spectators, is named after Athur Ashe.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Pete could do with a bucket...
The matches can be long and the weather is usually hot and humid. This can take a toll on the players. In 1996, a few minutes after this picture was shot, the great Pete Sampras actually threw up on the court during his match against Alex Corretja. We could have shown you that, but you didn’t really want to see it, did you?
Image: Getty Images/S. Botterill
Quiet please!
If you are looking for a quiet game of tennis, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is not the place for you! It happens to be located close to LaGuardia Airport. If you don’t like the noise you can complain, but making yourself heard could pose a problem...
Image: imago/UPI Photo
When Serena was still a bad girl
"Foot fault," cried the woman on the chair during this 2009 match. Serena Williams was having nothing of it and did her best to make this clear. The line judge jumped out of her chair and…
Image: Getty Images/J. Finney
"I didn't say that!"
…ran to the net and told the match referee, who called the head referee. He ordered Williams’ semifinal match against Kim Clijsters abandoned and awarded it to the Belgian. It was widely reported that Williams had threatened to shove a tennis ball down the line judge’s throat, something that the American denied having said.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T.A. Clary
Cramp-plagued Marcos Baghdatis
IN 2006, Marcos Baghdatis struggled through a his match against Andre Agassi. Plagued by cramps, he struggled to complete its. Baghdatis is still on the tour, Agassi, of course, retired years ago.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Emmert
Andre's second-last match
The match, in which Baghdatis wound up unable to run around the court was the second last in the career of Andre Agassi in New York. The crowd gave both men a standing ovation after Agassi won 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5. In his 2010 autobiography "Open," Agassi described his pain both on and off the tennis court.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Emmert
Stefanie Graf's backhand
Stefanie Graf rarely made mistakes with her backhand but her forehand was even better. In 1988 she faced Argentina’s Gabriela Sabatini in the US Open final and won 6-3, 3-6, and 6-1. Sabatini went on to have her own line of perfume, but Graf became a legend, helping, along with Boris Becker, to spark a tennis boom in Germany.
Image: Getty Images
A happy Angie Kerber
It would take until 2016 for another German to win at Flushing Meadows. This photo is from September 11, 2016, a day after Angelique Kerber had beaten Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the final. Since then, things haven't gone her way. Kerber lost her No. 1 spot in the women's rankings - despite the absence of Serena Williams.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Cj Gunther
Can't forget Jimmy
How could we forget this guy? He was in his prime when US men’s tennis was still powerful and nobody had heard of John McEnroe yet. Jimmy Connors, in this picture no longer using his old metal racket, won the US Open five times. His two-handed backhanders changed the men’s game.
Image: Getty Images/V
Boris won here too...
Here’s another guy we can’t forget. This is Boris Becker after beating Ivan Lendl 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 in the 1989 final. The often ill-tempered Lendl went on to become a cool golfer and even cooler coach. Becker is still his happy-go-lucky self. Last year he was appointed the "head of men’s tennis" by the German Tennis Association (DTB).
Image: Imago/Norbert Schmidt
Legendary support
Alexander Zverev (above left) is still looking for his first Grand Slam and he has enlisted former Grand Slam winner Ivan Lendl (right) to help him refine his game. The men's No. 4 failed to make it past the second round in his two previous appearances at the US Open. The 21-year-old German is hoping that Lendl's tactical knowledge will help carry him much deeper in 2018.
