Nadal has to give up: Del Potro vs. Djokovic in the US Open final

The long-suffering Argentine and the resurgent Serbian will meet at the crowning conclusion of the tournament on Sunday (22.00 p.m. CEST).

Djokovic defeats Nishikori Del Potro was leading 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in his semi-final against Rafael Nadal when the defending champion from Spain withdrew due to a knee injury. Djokovic easily celebrated his 6th victory in the 3th duel against the Japanese Kei Nishikori 6:4, 6:2, 2.23:15 in 17 hours and reached the final in New York for the eighth time. “It felt really good. “I started really well and played really well,” said Djokovic. Djokovic shouts out his joy at reaching the final. © APA/getty / JULIAN FINNEY

Del Potro suffered with Nadal. “That’s not the best way to win a match. Rafa is the greatest fighter in our sport, seeing him like he did today hurts,” said the 29-year-old. Nevertheless, he is “happy to be in the final again”. Nadal (32) explained: "I hate to give up, but in the end the pain became too much." Juan del Potro: “I was sad every day” In 2009, del Potro won the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows against Nadal in three sets and then celebrated his greatest success to date in the final against the Swiss Roger Federer. Numerous injuries subsequently derailed him and he had wrist surgery four times, once on the right (2010) and three times on the left (2014 and 2015).

“I was close to quitting tennis because I couldn't handle it. I became depressed about it,” he told the magazine GQ : “I was young, but I was sad every day.” At times, del Potro had slipped out of the top 1000 in the world rankings. Nadal's knee is causing problems Nadal was also sad after his knee stopped him again. Even before the marathon match against the Austrian Dominic Thiem on Tuesday, which lasted almost five hours, Nadal had reported “physical problems”, but was confident that he would be “at 100 percent” again against del Potro. “But at 2-2 in the first set I felt something in my knee,” said Nadal. The right knee keeps coming back: Nadal is in pain in the match against del Potro. © APA/getty / AL BELLO

The 17-time Grand Slam champion has been suffering from pain in both knees for years, caused by inflammation of the patellar tendons. At the end of last season, Nadal ended the ATP finals in London prematurely due to the same injury. At Grand Slam tournaments, he abandoned a match for the third time after the Australian Open in 2010 and 2018. His start in the Davis Cup semi-finals next week is questionable.

“I know what I have. It's the same as always. The good thing is that I know what to do to feel better because we have a lot of experience with it," said Nadal. Only he decides whether to play with the pain or wait "until I'm almost done I don’t feel anything anymore.”

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Nadal has to give up: Del Potro vs. Djokovic in the US Open final

Juan Martin del Potro is back in the final of the US Open after nine years, Novak Djokovic is playing for his next Grand Slam title seven weeks after winning Wimbledon.

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