Del Potro takes bronze at London 2012
Juan Martin del Potro defeated Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-4 to win the bronze singles medal at London 2012.
In a battle between two Grand Slam champions, Del Potro played with more conviction in the 1 hour, 48 minute match to hand Argentina its first medal in any sport at London 2012, and to become the first Argentine man to win an Olympic singles tennis medal of any colour. For Djokovic there was to be no repeat of the bronze medal he won in Beijing four years ago.
The 'Tower of Tandil', as Del Potro is known, finally broke the deadlock in the first set by breaking the Serb in the 11th game, and used that momentum to break again in the third game of the second. Djokovic had six points against Del Potro's serve during the match but wasn't able to breach the tall Argentine's defences.
On striking the winning ball, del Potro sunk to his knees, and after a hug and a handshake with Djokovic, knelt down on the All England Club grass again, staying there for a very long time. He walked off the court with Argentina's flag draped around his shoulders.
"I think I'm the most happy of the world at this moment," said an ecstatic Del Potro. "After a really sad day two days ago, it's not easy to recover and to play these kind of matches. But I had energy into my body, into my heart, and that's help me to play this big challenge for me."
"I know everybody in Argentina was follow this match, trying to give me power to play my best tennis. I really appreciate that. I think this gift is for all our country," he said.
There had been doubts that del Potro would be able to match up physically to the super-fit Djokovic after playing a 4-hour-26-minute marathon match in the semis versus Roger Federer. But the Argentine showed no signs of the toll that loss had taken on him both mentally and physically and was an imposing presence throughout their bronze medal match.
Play started half an hour late due to rain and both men came out strongly. It was five-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic though who made more of the early running, and he held three points against the Argentine's serve in the third game, only to see del Potro level to deuce. The 2009 US Open winner was poised to win the game at advantage when the rain came down heavily and play was suspended with 23 minutes on the clock.
It was more than an hour later when the players returned to Wimbledon's No. 1 Court and del Potro held serve to make it 3-3 in the opening set. Djokovic looked the better player still, and didn't concede a point on his serve until the ninth game, but with the score at 5-4 on serve, his frustration surfaced as again he made no impression on his opponent, and he threw up his arms in disgust and hit a ball into the stands.
Del Potro took his chances in the 11th game, and when Djokovic missed an easy smash had two break points at 15-40. The Serb clawed back to deuce, but the Argentine got a third break point and sealed the game when Djokovic netted a forehand after a long rally.
With del Potro serving for the set, Djokovic had two break points to level for 6 all, and in a very long game pushed del Potro all the way as he tried to get the crowd involved in his cause. But his big-serving opponent held firm and took the first set 7-5 on his third set point.
As the match swung his way, del Potro immediately got a break point in opening game but Djokovic held. Two games later though and the Serb was in trouble on his serve again as del Potro broke for a 2-1 lead. Djokovic pushed him all the way and was the better player at the net, but the tall Argentine was serving too well and was hitting his groundstrokes with too much power.
Djokovic had another chance on del Potro's serve at 4-3, but it came and went as del Potro hit yet another forehand winner to stay out of trouble. The world No. 9 held his nerve to serve out for victory two games later, to the delight of the small band of Argentine fans waving their blue and white flags.
It was just del Potro's second win in six meetings with Djokovic, and the first had been handed to him by retirement in Argentina and Serbia's Davis Cup semifinal last September.
The result handed Argentina its fourth medal in Olympic tennis history, and its second men's medal in the sport after Javier Frana and Cristian Miniussi secured bronze in Barcelona in 1992 (in those days there was no bronze medal play-off so two teams shared bronze). Only Gabriela Sabatini had previously taken home a medal in singles, doing so at Seoul 1988 where she won silver.