Top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal seeks his fourth US Open final when he takes on former champion, Juan Martin del Potro on Friday afternoon.
Date: 7 September 2018
Match time: Not before 4 PM EDT – New York, Montreal / 9 PM BST – United Kingdom / 10 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / Saturday 6 AM AEDT – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
The world No. 1 has won 11 of his 16 matches against Delpo, and has beaten the Argentine in three of the last four majors, including an epic five-setter at Wimbledon. They have met once previously at this stage in New York, a contest which a then 20-year-old Delpo claimed in straight sets.
Rafa on playing Delpo:
Yeah, will be a very tough one.
Probably Juan Martin is – in Wimbledon he’s a great player. He’s a great player on grass. Well, he’s a great player everywhere.
But the challenge of playing him on hard of course is even higher for me personally than playing against him on clay, like happened in Roland Garros.
Even like this, I had a very lucky first set.
Will be a big challenge. Is a match that we know each other very well. I know he’s playing well.
I know that I will have to play at my highest level to keep having chances of success. I am focused on try to make that happen.
I think last three sets I improved. I increased my level. Was a step forward for me in the dynamic of the tournament. So I did it. I hope to continue that way.
Delpo:
It could be another big battle as the Wimbledon match was. Of course, I like to play always with the No. 1 of the world, doesn’t matter the tournament or the conditions or the weather. I just have the chance to play the greatest on this sport, and it’s amazing for me.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
Source: US Open
I think today fans can understand why Rafa wouldn’t discuss his knee the other day. If there wasn’t anything wrong, I believe he would have said so. Moyá said it was “soreness.” I had my doubts then. I love when Rafa is healthy because we can see what he continues to do.
Injury breaks his body and spirit. Enough already. I hope he takes his time to return to competition. I’m not thinking about anything except for his health and recovery.
RAFA ROCKS THE TOUR
Totally agree. Chances will come again, if he stays healthy.
My feeling is he should have stopped at 2-2 but since he’s this unusually nice champion ,
he did not want to disappoint his fans so he played for much longer than he should havek
Oh sweet Rafa 😥❤️ Such a fighter. You’ve been playing amazingly 🎾💪🏼
Very sorry for you, that this happend. Please get better soon champ 😘🍀
Obviously wasn’t the outcome I’d hoped for but congrats to Delpo 👏🏻🙂
I am going to say something that i will get critize for it but i have to say it. If nole wins on sunday that means that this was his season when it comes to winning grandslams. And we all know that nole has no points to defend and is the best indoor tennis player. He can become nr 1 at the end of the year.
That is why i hope nadal will recover and be back in sjanghai so he can defend his nr 1 position
No criticism from me. Although it’s not an important record really, I like Rafa being the oldest player to get the YE#1. It has a certain irony. I’d say Djokovic is likely to get it though, the late season indoor hard court tournaments favour him far more than Rafa, and Fed isn’t looking like a threat. But I’m really just hoping that Rafa is able to play again soon.
VAMOS SWEETHEART……..YES…..YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) YOU ARE THE NUMBER ONE TENNIS PLAYER IN THE WORLD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ): ) : ) : ) SUCH CLASSY, SHEER HARD WORK AND YOUR WORK ETHIC IS ONE OF A KIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) YOU ARE THERE DEFENDING TOP RANKING AND YOU ARE DOING IT BRILLIANTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) WE LOVE YOU NUMBER ONE WORLD CHAMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) TOTALLY SAY FULL HEATEDLY THAT WHAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IS VERY VERY SPECIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) SO ENJOY SWEETHEART AND TAKE A BEAUTIFUL BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
He should stop grinding, lose weight and go for his shots to finish points. He was practically asking for this by the way he was playing all tournament.
This has happened in two out of four majors now. Next year it might be three out of four.
You can thumb me down all you like guys. But did you see how he was playing against Pospisil for some periods? Ridiculous shotmaking in places, really thought he was on to something there, but then went back to grinding for the rest of the tourney.
Maybe he can rest up and have a decent crack at those ATP finals for once.
I never thumb someone down; if I disagree with them, I explain my objection. It annoys me that people do it…though if the button’s there, I guess people will press it. It’s a shame that you won’t get to hear their reasoned challenges to your view. It could be that they have something valuable to share.
Rafa will lose some points as he couldnt defend his title but he will still be no1 on monday by my calculations. Please someone correct me if I’m wrong.
Comfortably. Djokovic might end up year end no 1 though, which is fair if he’s won two out of four slams.
I’m so upset. That’s 2 Grand Slam events out of 4 this year ruined by injury, and he was playing so well at both of them. I wish del Potro all the best for the final, but … 🙁 . I think it was the right decision to stop rather than play on and make it worse, but it’s very sad.
It is sad, you’re right. But for me, the worst one was Wimbledon. He wasn’t injured at that one; it was decided (in my opinion) by an arbitrary and unfair decision; so the loss was even harder to take, knowing what lay beyond that semi final. That’s my worst memory of the 2018 Slams. At least with Australia and US, he played up until his capacity, and que ser sera. After Australia, he came back very strong. So let’s hope the same after US. At least it doesn’t look like a new or complicated injury.
I agree Alex. His wimbledon loss to Novak and all the ancillary stuff that aggravated that semi final loss was nearly too much to bear. Although im so sad for him that his body has let him down again its not as bad as THAT loss.
Chin up setinthepast – Rafa will be back stronger and fitter. He did the sensible thing today but of course its heart wrenching.
VAMOS SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) IT IS OK SWEETHEART….YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND I AM GLAD YOU STOPPED….IT IS VERY WISE AND IT IS OK SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) I AM HAPPY YOU DECIDED TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. THIS IS JUST A GAME….NO BIG DEAL….YOU GO IN HISTORY AS THE ULTIMATE BELOVED, FIGHTER GOAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) ; ) : ) ) : ) : ) YOUR GLOBAL FANS ARE THERE WITH YOU EACH CENTIMETER OF THE WAY……..THANK YOU FOR ALL THE BEAUTIFUL TENNIS AND THE EXCITEMENT AND FOR BEING SO CLASSY WITH YOUR SPORTSMANSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) I AM GLAD YOU ENDED IT . GOOD FOR YOU SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) WE LOVE YOU SWEETHEART AND CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL SPLENDID RUN AND ALL THE GORGEOUS TENNIS YOU PRODUCED THIS YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF SWEETHEART AND ENJOY EVERYTHING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) WE ARE NOT GOING TO CARE WHO TAKES THE TITLE NOT GOING TO WATCH….WITH OUT YOU IT IS RATHER DULL……
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FEEL SOLID AND PROUD OF YOUR EXTRAORDINARY TOP TOP TOP TOP TOP TOP TENNIS. WE LOVE YOU & SENDING LOTS OF LOVE & HAPPINESS AND VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : )
with a little bit more luck he could have easily equaled federer
I hope he will be back in sjanghai and not play davis cup laver cup or beijing. Its a frustrating feeling. I believe if he had some luck this year he could have more then only the french open.
He is not playing the laver cup this year. He said he was playing the davis cup but that may be questionable now with his knee.
Unfortunately Rafa was injured and it was even more apparent when he took off his bandage and walked back to the court. I don’t see how anyone could have missed that. I felt he should have retired then. But as we all know, Rafa won’t quit until he can’t stand.
Go home Rafa. Rest your tired and bruised body so it can heal and bring you more glory in the future.
RAFA ROCKS BETTER THAN THE OLYMPIANS
I dont like wasting my time watching Novak play anything but im contemplating having a peek at his semi and see how Kei does against him. Ive seen Delpo give Novak a thrashing a few times so I’m hopeful for Sunday should Novak get through.
Kei’s a really fun player, so I’ll put my fingers over half the court and just watch his part of the match ha ha ha XD
I’m with you on that Susie.
Lol. Yeah that may work.
Novak is warming up now. Will watch for a while through gritted teeth. Cmon Kei!!
This sucks!
Poor Rafa. Better to rest that knee than try to play and have it get much worse.
And yes, silver lining is a fresher Delpo against a possible Djoker. I hope Nishikori has something to say about that!
You did your best Rafa. That’s all I can ask. Thanks for the memories of USO 2018!
Yes. Agree. Yet again Rafa gave us “match of the tournament” – as he seems to every tournament!
I am happy for Delpo, who is always gracious and proportionate. Clearly a friend of Rafa’s, and someone who handles these situations well. And who has had awful injury problems himself – whose career has been hugely impacted by it. I’m sure Rafa won’t begrudge his success.
Game over
Poor Rafa everytime this year he was on the brink of writing history something happens retiring against cilic and now against del potro playing under the roof against nole when did it want to
But I think a wise situation the season is not over yet. I dont see del potro winning on sunday against nole. Nole return will hurt him badly.
He did write history this year, though! It’s easy to forget success when a disappointment happens. But he’s been having a marvellous year; not just results, but also quality of play and seeing that he can win after breaks. So I’m feeling positive.