PREVIEW: US Open Men's Final

Roger Federer (1) vs. Juan Martin del Potro (6)
Head-to-Head: 6 Fed, 0 Delpo
Last meeting: Roland Garros semifinals, Fed 3-6, 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4

Here it is: the very last match of the Grand Slam season. Go ahead and cry.

Roger Federer will be looking to match Bill Tilden's record of six straight US Open titles and earn his 16th major when he faces first-time finalist Juan Martin del Potro in today's final.

How They Got Here: Roger Federer played a brilliant match against a solid Novak Djokovic defeating the Serb 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5 and punctuating the win (or rubbing it in?) by cracking a tweener to reach match point. Sick. Delpo played the best match of his career by owning the baseline and dominating Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 to reach his maiden major final.

It will be the pair's seventh meeting with the Swiss dominating their series 6-0.


Here's what Rog had to say about Delpo's game:

Well, I mean to go back to the beginning of the year, I had a very easy match with him in Australia, which was very surprising to me, because he came ‑‑ you know, it was a quarterfinal match. I just found out Mirka was having twins.

I was going into that match like, All right, let's see how this is going to affect me. And it didn't. So I was relieved there.

Then in Madrid, and especially in Paris, you could feel like he was just improving every month. Every month he was getting better. He was hitting his serves better, from the baseline he was getting more confident. He knows much more now today what he needs to do on the tennis court.

Whereas maybe in the beginning, because he's so tall, he needs to figure out his game. And I think he did that in the last six months now. I don't know what's going to happen this time, because, again, Paris was clay. This is faster hardcourt. But he's got, you know, the all‑court game. I think it's going to be interesting, I think.

Here's some of what the Argentine had to say about facing Fed:

When I was playing against Roger in the French Open I was so close. On that surface was much better for me.

And if I play against him tomorrow, the surface going to help too much him not too much me. But I have a good sensation with everything, and I hope the best for tomorrow.

Outlook: It's hard to look past Fed as the winner here. He hasn't lost a match at the Open since 2003, has been playing some of his best stuff of late and will most likely have the crowd support. Plus he'll have his third straight first-time GS finalist at the US Open (Nole, Muzz) so he'll most likely benefit from some early match nerves by the Argentine.

It's a tough situation for Delpo but he managed to bring his game to new heights against Rafa on the big stage. He's well-suited to the fast courts of Flushing Meadows and has been using the pace and weight of his groundies to awesome effect.

But I think the moment may be a bit too big for the 20-year old. He may manage to grab a set but when all is said and done, Fed will be left standing.

WINNER: ROG

(Photos: Getty)