At first I wasn't really sure how I felt about Del Potro winning the Open. I mean I was kind of happy to see a new champion, and knowing that Del Potro is 20 and Roger is 28 it's not really that surprising that a younger player taking over Roger's reign as US Open Champion. Del Potro will be the future of the tennis world and will probably and I'm pretty sure that this US Open title is just the beginning of things to come for him. So while it seemed kind of fitting that Del Potro beat Roger, I was kind of sad to see Roger lose. He's been the US Open champion since I started watching tennis and it's strange, for me, now that he's not.
Many people, including myself, think that Roger is the greatest player of all time, although when it comes to five set matches at the majors, he has shown some vulnerability. This is now the third time that he's lost a 5 set match in a grand slam final. If you compare his five set record in slam finals 2-3 to his four set record (5-2) or 3 set record ( 7-1) you can see that he tends to win more often in shorter matches. I think that his mediocre 5 set record is mostly due to his lack of mental fortitude. Don't get me wrong, Federer is still a strong mental player, but sometimes he gets frustrated by an opponent or his own tactical decision making and instead of trying something different he tends to repeat the same mistake, a good example of this would be in Miami against Djokovic. Or a few years ago at the French Open, when he refused to use a drop shot against Nadal.
As for Del Potro, this title is a huge win for him. Now that he's won a major he's proven that he's a viable threat for the upcoming slams and that he's capable of beating the world's best, on the biggest of stages. I guess time will tell with this guy, he could be a major dominating player in years to come or he could be a flash in the pan who burns out after a few years at the top, kind of like Lleyton Hewitt. A lot will also depend on what kind of rivals Del Potro has during his peak years. I mean think about how many majors Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick would have won, had it not been for Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. Andre, would have possibly doubled the amount of slams that he ended up with and I'm pretty sure Roddick could have won at least 7 or 8. That same kind of fate could befall Del Potro, if he winds up playing in the same era as a player, far superior to him.
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