Rehabbing Roger Federer never made it to Flushing, but his countryman Stan Wawrinka has done well in carrying the Swiss flag high and proud at the U.S. Open.
In the late match on Ashe Stadium, Warwinka, brandishing his classic one-handed backhand, ended the storybook run of unseeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach his third Open semifinal in four years.
“It was crazy atmosphere, really late match, thanks for staying so late,” Wawrinka said. “I need some sleep. I’m quite tired.”
The match concluded at 1:20 a.m. in front of about 5,000 stragglers left over from the 23,000 that stuffed the stadium for Serena Williams’ victory. Many of them sang Argentine fight songs, especially in the final stages.
Wawrinka, as the third seed, was not even considered a favorite Wednesday because of del Potro’s past pedigree. Ranked 142nd and needing a wild card to enter the main draw, del Potro had been turning back the Flushing clock to 2009 when he romped to the Open title and ended Federer’s run of five straight titles.
Wrist surgeries derailed what looked to be shaping up as a dominant career for del Potro until this recent comeback.
Wawrinka finally got some revenge for his buddy Federer, and now Friday’s men’s semifinal pairings are set. It’s the first time in 10 years — since 2006 — that only one of the so-called Big 4 is part of the final weekend.
Wawrinka will get Andy Murray slayer, Kei Nishikori, while Big 4 member Novak Djokovic faces Gael Monfils. In 2006, the semis had one Big 4 staple in Federer, who was joined by Andy Roddick, Mikhail Youzhny and Nikolay Davydenko. The Wawrinka-Nishikori matchup is a rematch of their 2014 Open semifinal won by the Japanese star.
Things looked good for del Potro early. He took a 4-1 lead to start the match — up a break — but folded and lost a tiebreaker. He evened the match at a set apiece but Wawrinka seized the momentum in the third. The Swiss right-hander broke del Potro at 4-3, with his patented one-handed backhand winner. He then served out the set.
To start the fourth, del Potro got broken promptly, hitting a double-fault on break point, seemingly sapped of energy. His service speed numbers in the third set were decidedly lower than the first two. The Argentine fans speckled around Ashe started singing a rallying song to energize their guy but it didn’t happen.
Wawrinka held serve then broke del Potro again, whipping a backhand down the line on break point, punctuating the winner by raising his right fist.