He rules over him like a father to a son, but Roger Federer’s respect for Juan Martin Del Potro in the lead up to their French Open semi-final keeps growing, despite a history that reads five victories to the Swiss maestro and none to the young Argentine.
“At his age, he is now constantly appearing in the latter stages of Grand Slams. I respect him a lot for the way he plays in matches that are very important. He is now very dangerous,” Federer said.
But one cannot argue that this is indeed Federer’s best chance of equalling Pete Sampras’ record as the male with the most Grand Slam victories in the history of men’s Tennis.
Not only has he not lost a match against his semi-final opponent, Del Potro is yet to take a set from the former world number one.
Indeed, Federer has invariably showcased his best form against the lanky Argentinian, which was evident in the Australian Open quarter-final earlier this year.
Del Potro simply had no answers in that match, as Federer cruised to a 6-3 6-0 6-0 victory that really pummelled the Argentinian’s confidence.
“He played the perfect game and there was nothing I could do to stop him.” Del Potro said.
“He knew that he played the perfect game and he told me that he was not surprised if I wanted to kill him afterwards.”
However, the 20 year old has taken that defeat in his stride and should be commended for his recent rise up the rankings since that demoralising loss.
Del Potro has since performed brilliantly on tour, registering morale boosting wins over current world number one Rafael Nadal, and 2008 US Open finalist Andy Murray, in Masters tournaments this year.
Although he once again lost to Federer at the Madrid Masters, it was a far more respectful 6-3, 6-4 defeat that allowed the young Argentinian prodigy to learn more about a player that, in his mind, “is technically perfect.”
It seems now that Del Potro has taken Federer’s master class performances against him on board in what has so far been a terrific French Open for the world number five.
Del Potro has so far only dropped one set, in Roland Garros, in the lead-up to his maiden semi-final appearance in a Grand Slam.
Only home town French favourite, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, has managed to take a set, in a victory that was perhaps the Argentinian’s best performance so far in the tournament.
He continued his rich vein of form in the quarter-final against Tommy Robredo, posting a straight sets victory that had most of the ingredients to rival Federer’s dominant performances.
Indeed Del Potro knows that he will have to play the perfect match against an opponent desperate to equal Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam victories.
Regardless, the lanky Argentinian knows he too must maintain his illusion of winning his maiden Grand Slam trophy at just the age of 20.
Unlike his previous performances against Federer, Del Potro now truly believes that this is his time to dethrone the Swiss legend, and make the great man wait a little longer to achieve his record equalling feat.
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