Djokovic earns 14th Grand Slam title with US Open win over del Potro

Novak Djokovic made it two Grand Slam wins this year, picking up the title in Wimbledon and besting Juan Martin del Potro in the US Open final on Sunday.

Novak Djokovic is a champion once again, winning the US Open for a third time on Sunday in a match against the third-seeded Juan Martin del Potro. Djokovic, the 2011 and 2015 winner of the tournament, earned his 14th Grand Slam title with the 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory.

Many in the crowd were cheering for del Potro, who won the US Open in 2009 and won the hearts of many Americans in the process. Del Potro disappeared from the top of the tennis rankings for some time due to injuries, but has charged back into the top five, entering the tournament as one of the favorites. He couldn’t make it past Djokovic on Sunday, but he had a phenomenal tournament regardless.

Djokovic, 31, has been in something of a rut, or at least he was for the back half of last year and the first half of this year. He’s went through multiple coaching changes and was consistently inside his own head far too much. But with two Majors under his belt for 2018, he’s right back where he wants to be.

The match was plenty competitive on Sunday, with del Potro forcing Djokovic to work hard for the win, but it was still a straight-sets victory for the Serb.

Del Potro was the first to threaten a break, on Djokovic’s second service game, but the Serb held. After a couple more holds, del Potro was serving was 3-4, and Djokovic had his first break opportunity of the match. He got the break on a very long rally in which del Potro hit a return into the net. That allowed Djokovic to serve for the set, and he managed to hold at 40-30 for a set lead.

In the second, Djokovic had multiple break opportunities on del Potro’s first service game, but the Argentine held to start. Djokovic held, and then broke del Potro on his second service game. But when Djokovic went out to serve again, del Potro broke him back to get the second set back on serve. On Djokovic’s next service game, which lasted over 20 minutes, del Potro came very close to breaking again, but ultimately couldn’t do it.

The second set went to a tiebreak, which Djokovic won, 7-4. That gave him a two-set lead, and he didn’t look back from there. The third set was more of the same, with Djokovic winning more of the hotly-contested points as del Potro faded. Del Potro managed to break Djokovic in the third to get back on serve at 3-3, but Djokovic broke back and managed to win the match.

Prior to Sunday’s final, Djokovic and del Potro had faced each other 18 times, with the former taking the bulk of those meetings. Djokovic led the head-to-head, 14-4, with del Potro’s last win against him being at the Olympics in 2016.

They faced each other three times in 2017, with Djokovic winning all three meetings. Djokovic has also beaten del Potro at the US Open twice before, in the third round in 2007 and the in the quarterfinals in 2012.

Del Potro’s run through the tournament has been impressive, leading many to pick him for Sunday’s final. His wins in the tournament were over Donald Young, Denis Kudla, Fernando Verdasco, Borna Coric, John Isner and Rafael Nadal. Isner, the 11th seed, pushed del Potro to four sets, while Nadal, the top seed, retired after two sets in the semifinals.

Djokovic’s run hasn’t been quite as impressive, but he’s still downed some great players. His run includes wins over Marton Fucsovics, Tennys Sandgren, Richard Gasquet, Joao Sousa, John Millman and Kei Nishikori. Notably, Millman eliminated Roger Federer prior to facing Djokovic, while Nishikori was downed in straight sets in the semifinal.