William Villas, Gabriela Sabatini y Juan Martin del Potro. The three of them, at the time, engraved their names and surnames in gold letters in one of the most important tennis tournaments on the circuit. Gastón Gaudio is the other Argentine who won a Grand Slam, but it was at Roland Garros. Hours before the US Open 2022 begins, Willy, Gaby and Delpo explain why it is the most successful major tournament for Argentines.
In 1977, Vilas gave himself the great pleasure of getting that title, with the plus that he beat the local Jimmy Connors in the decisive duel of the US Open. Then 13 years passed for another compatriot to touch the sky with his hands in the Big Apple: In 1990, it was Gaby Sabatini who beat the German Steffi Graf in a Grand Slam final for the only time in her career.
Even more time passed for another Argentine to give himself such pleasure: It was Del Potro, in 2009, who, like Sabatini, won his only Grand Slam on New York cement. That time, the native of Tandil defeated none other than the Swiss Roger Federer in the final. That blow was really shocking and, to top it off, the Argentine had just crushed the Spanish Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.
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The plus of the three Argentine owners of the US Open is that they beat the No. 1 in the ranking in each final, who had won that title the previous year. Vilas participated in 1977 being the fourth seed and Connors, his victim in the definition, did not appear first among the seeds because Björn Borg had displaced him from the top for a week, just in the previous one, when the draw was made. . That is why the American was listed as second that time and the Swede topped the list.
For its part, Sabatini acted in 1990 as the fifth seed and Graf, his loser in the defining clash, was ranked as the main favorite of the draw. For del Potro, seeded sixth in 2009, it was the same situation as Gaby, since Federer arrived in New York as a great candidate. And another coincidence: the three No. 1s mentioned, Connors, Graf and Federer, won the US Open five times.
Vilas, Sabatini and Del Potro, each with their own style, left a huge mark on the US Open.
Guillermo Vilas’ title at the US Open
William Vilas was consecrated in US Open on September 11, 1977. On his way to the final, he had overcome a very complex draw: from the first round to the semifinals, he eliminated the Spanish Manuel Santana (6-1 and 6-0), the American Gene Mayer ( 6-3 and 6-0) and Víctor Amaya (6-3 and 6-3), the Spanish José Higueras (6-3 and 6-1), the South African Raymond Moore (6-1, 6-1 and 6-0 ) and the American Harold Solomon (6-2, 7-6 and 6-2).
In the final, the first set was won by Jimmy Connors for a comfortable 6-2. From the second, Vilas respected the strategy that he had outlined together with his coach, the Romanian Ion Tiriac, and began to torment the American with low balls to avoid his opponent’s flat shots.
It was thus that he evened in the second set with a partial of 6-3. The third was the most disputed, which was broken in a tie break by 7-6. And in the fourth, the man from Mar del Plata was a machine: the resounding 6-0 marked the end of the match, which meant a historic victory for Argentine tennis.
In the course of three years, from 1977 to 1979, Guillermo Vilas won four Grand Slams. He triumphed at Roland Garros 1977, at the US Open 1977 and at the Australian Open 1978 and 1979. Meanwhile, he lost the finals of Roland Garros 1975, 1978 and 1982 and Australia 1977.
Gabriela Sabatini’s title at the US Open
The greatest conquest in the career of Gabriela Sabatini It was on September 8, 1990. That Saturday she defeated the German Steffi Graf 6-2 and 7-6 (4), in a remarkable performance by Argentina that solidified that day the romance she historically had with New Yorkers, who always had her among their favorites.
The match was played at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing Meadows. In the first set, Gaby was active and with returns, constant advances and went ahead 4-0 (she broke the German at the beginning, at zero, and then in the fourth game), to define the set in the eighth game. with his serve, after a drive from his rival to the net for 6-2.
In the second set, everything was more even, but Gabriela’s conviction, totally determined to close her big tournament there, was able to finish off in the tie-break. In the 6-4 tiebreaker, there was a moment of doubt on Sabatini’s right that went so far that he only unleashed the vent with the confirmation of the linesman. Thus, the Argentine celebrated her only Grand Slam and hugged in the corner with her brother Osvaldo de Ella, her usual companion on her trips.
The conquest of Juan Martín Del Potro at the US Open
The bad weather conditions that existed in the 2009 edition of the US Open led to the men’s final being played on Monday 14 September. That day, Juan Martin del Potro he was barely 20 years old and faced the number one in the world, Roger Federerwho was also looking for his sixth consecutive coronation at Flushing Meadows.
In transit to the semifinal, Del Potro beat Juan Mónaco, the Austrians Jurgen Melzer and Daniel Koellerer, the Spanish Juan Carlos Ferrero and the Croatian Marin Cilic. The match prior to the definition was a walk that the man from Tandil gave Rafael Nadal, then number 2 in the ranking, whom he took out of the tournament with a triple 6-2.
In a dramatic and changing final, Del Potro brought out the best of his tennis and kept the trophy he longed for all his life. It was 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4) and 6-2, in one of the most exciting finals of the Open Era which lasted four hours and six minutes. In this way, the man from Tandil managed to beat Federer for the first time, in a record that was 5-0 in favor of the Swiss up to that point.
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In a 17-year career, Del Potro won 22 ATP titles and became number 3 in the world. In 2008, at the age of 20, he entered the top 10 for the first time and the following year he won his most important circuit title: he was US Open champion in the aforementioned final against Roger Federer.
