Swiss ace Roger Federer was on the hunt for his 20th Grand Slam title and with the likes of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic out with injury, his path was mostly clear. But, to the delight of many fans, one obstacle remains in his way, Rafael Nadal. The 2 long-time rivals were set to clash in the semi-finals of the US Open, but one man spoilt the party, Juan Martin Del Potro. The last time the Argentine and Federer faced each other in the US Open was in the 2009 finals where the latter was defeated.

Federer already had a tough couple of matches against Frances Tiafoe and Mikhail Youzhny, who stretched him to 5 sets. Although he was able to dispatch Feciliano Lopez and Philipp Kohlschreiber, Federer lacked consistency especially against the Argentine. ‘I need to recover, go back to practice courts, and come back strong for the end of the season,‘I played okay in this tournament, but I know I can be better. Rafa and DelPo will be a great match, both have killer forehands.’

He was gutted to not meet long-time rival Rafael Nadal in the semi-final but he said that he had no place in the semis and Del Potro had a better chance against Rafa. The way I played or playing right now, it’s not good enough in my opinion to win this tournament. It’s better I’m out and somebody else gets a chance to do better than me.’