Rafael Nadal faces biggest forehand in tennis as Juan Martin del Potro eyes second US Open final

Forewarned: Rafael Nadal is well aware of the threat Juan Martin del Potro poses
AFP/Getty Images
Paul Newman8 September 2017

Rafael Nadal treats all his rivals with respect but the world No1 will be particularly wary in his US Open semi-final tonight as he takes on the opponent who possesses what he considers to be the most powerful forehand in tennis.

Four wrist operations have robbed Juan Martin del Potro of much of the power he used to wield on his backhand but the 28-year-old Argentine’s thunderbolt forehands were as potent as ever in his victories this week over Roger Federer and the young Austrian, Dominic Thiem.

“When he’s playing well, it’s difficult to stop him,” Nadal said. “If he serves well and hits his forehand well, he’s a player who can beat anybody.

“I will have to play my best tennis. I need to be very focused with my serve and play aggressively. If you let him play from good positions with his forehand you are dead, because he plays super-aggressive, hitting so hard.

“From those positions he is probably unstoppable. I need to play long, I need to play against his backhand and then open the court.”

Del Potro, nevertheless, believes that his backhand has been improving with every tournament and will go into the semi-final knowing that he beat Nadal at the same stage of the event when he won his only Grand Slam title here eight years ago.

The world No28, who also won his two most recent meetings with Nadal, said he liked the match-up against the Mallorcan, though he insisted that this would be very different to any of their previous encounters.

“He’s the No1 player in the world and he’s playing so confidently at this tournament,” said Del Potro. “He’s a leftie, so it will be easy for him to find my backhand. For sure, I will try to make winners with my forehand.”

Del Potro, who has been dealing with a bout of ’flu for the last four days, joked that he would try not to run too much “because my legs are tired”. He has spent 13hr 20min on court — an hour and 40 minutes longer than his opponent — and added: “Physically, I’m not in perfect condition, but when you play in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, anything can happen. You must be ready to take your chance.

“Playing against Rafa in my favourite tournament, I will try to enjoy the atmosphere. I know that if I play my best tennis I can be a danger to him.”

While Del Potro faced major battles in his last two matches, Nadal won both of his — against Alexandr Dolgopolov and Andrey Rublev — in straight sets.

“I think I have been improving during the whole event and I have been taking a step forward match by match,” Nadal said.

“Now is the moment to take another step forward. I think I have the attitude to try to make that happen.”

Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta and South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, neither of whom have gone this far in a Grand Slam tournament, will meet in the first of tonight’s semi-finals.

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