"Ole'' — the Spanish Warrior quit. Nine years later, Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro is back in the U
S. Open final, unleashing the sport's best forehand on defending champion and top-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain, whose right knee acted up, forcing him to retire after the losing second set of their semi
He trailed 7-6, 6-2. Across the two sets, the Ashe Stadium crowd was filled with "Ole, Ole' Ole' — "Delpo
'' Nadal normally is the fan favorite across the globe, but del Potro's journey is a compelling one
Nadal — who is 32 and has weathered myriad injuries — was attended to by a trainer examining his taped right knee early in the second set
The injury timeout was an alarming scene to happen so early. He had his knee taped during his five-set victory over Dominic Thiem
"I felt something on the knee at 2-2 in the first set,'' Nadal said. "I was trying to see if it would improve in match, but not today
I waited as much as I can. You can imagine very difficult for me to say goodbye before the match was finished
"It was so difficult to keep playing at the same time — in too much pain. I hate to retire
To play one more set, playing like this, was too much for me.'' Nadal said he didn't think it was structural damage beyond his recurring tendinitis
After losing the second set, Nadal took off his headband, put his racket in the bag and talked to the trainer, telling him he was done
One of the true warriors of the sport, Nadal had to be hurting. Then after getting broken, Nadal jabbered at the umpire to protest an umpire's call he claimed came before the ball landed
During the argument, Nadal mentioned he was "going to retire anyway.'' And so he did
"I'm sad for him, but I'm also happy, too,'' del Potro said. For del Potro, it has been a long climb back since his win in the 2009 Open
He sustained his series of wrist problems soon after copping the title and dethroning Roger Federer at age 20
It wasn't until February 2016, his ranking at 1,041, that he made a return that would be lasting
Del Potro was flawless in the second set — 16 winners with just three unforced errors
In the first set, del Potro was always pushing the action, getting Nadal on the move with his cranking groundstrokes
He broke Nadal in the first game, but the Spaniard broke right back. At 4-4, del Potro took control, posting a break as he powdered a forehand and got nadal scampering again, making an error on his rushed forehand
But del Potro, serving for the set, blew two sets points and committed three straight unforced errors as Nadal broke back to tie at 5-5
The set headed to a tiebeaker, during which the Argentine controlled from the start
Nadal couldn't get fast enough to a drop shot, floating it out for 4-2 and a mini break
Del Potro smashed away Nadal's short return of serve for 5-2. Nadal butchered a forehand wide to fall behind 5-3 and triple set point
Nadal pounded a backhand in the net giving del Potro the set.
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