NEW YORK -- Every time Juan Martin del Potro was down, they lifted him. Each time he was up, they drove him on. Their passionate exhortations shook the Grandstand at the US Open, drifted across the grounds, resonated in the strangest of all places, inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"We could even hear it on center court," Roger Federer said after he won his own match. "That's the first time I experienced that."
These Labor Day fans were from all corners of the globe, but by the time Dominic Thiem double-faulted at match point in the fifth set to give del Potro the win -- 1-6, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 -- a large part of the crowd was from del Potro's home country of Argentina. Once more, del Potro was king of New York, just like he was on that sultry night in 2009 when he stunned Roger Federer in the championship match on the larger court nearby.
Legs spread, arms flung wide, del Potro gazed in disbelief and gratitude at the night sky above Queens moments after he won. ESPN analyst Pam Shriver asked how he'd managed to win. He replied with three words, "Oh my god."
Small wonder. Del Potro was ill for two days before the match. He seemed to have trouble moving in the early going Monday, and there's a lot of Delpo to move. He stands 6-foot-6 and weighs in at 215 pounds. Thiem, seeded No. 6 and no less a master of the power baseline game, had ripped through the first two sets savagely, convincingly.
But that crowd. They held del Potro's big paw from the beginning, coaxing with their chants and cries. They hung on through the rough bits; they made him want to try no matter how hopeless it looked.
"When I saw all the crowd cheering, I was trying to feel better," del Potro said. "I think I fight like this because of you guys."'
Tennis
The Grandstand crowd erupts after Juan Martin del Potro wins his challenge of Dominic Thiem's second serve on match point, capping an improbable comeback by Delpo in an improbable fashion. Thiem lost the epic fourth-round five-setter after dropping just three games while jumping out to a two-set lead.
There's something about Delpo that brings out the best in fans. As Thiem said afterward, "[There are] some different reasons [for del Potro's popularity]. Because of his success. Because he came back after really bad injuries. He has a very attractive game. [It's] no surprise that people like him."
It's more than "like," though. Fans shake the rafters with love. It all begins with his bearing. He's imposing, but there's not a whiff of aggression about him -- if you discount his shots. He seems a gentle giant who mumbles in a barely audible monotone and goes about his business on the court in way that seems almost introspective. That's a little different in a sport chock-full of "who's the man?" fist-pumpers. Instead, del Potro often looks like he needs a hug. It was especially so in the first two sets of Monday's match.
"It was very important because I was trying [not] to retire [from] the match in the second set," del Potro said. "Then I saw the crowd waiting for more tennis, waiting for my good forehands, good serves. I took all that energy to change in a good way and think about fight and not retire."
Del Potro isn't sure why he's so popular. His shy nature makes it hard to express himself. He speaks tennis, though, and that's a common bond he shares with his fans from everywhere. "I know the people like when I hit hard with my forehands," he said. "The people stand up from the chairs when I hit good winners. I like to do that."
There have been long spans in del Potro's career in which he was unable to bring people up off their chairs. He was dealt a series of cruel blows to his career just as it was beginning. Del Potro was just 20 when he won the US Open, but then he played just five more tournaments before vanishing for eight months with a bad right wrist that required surgery and extensive rehab.
Sadly, del Potro's trials were beginning rather than ending. A bum left wrist forced him to miss almost the entire 2014 season and undergo another surgery. When del Potro wasn't trying to shake off the rust or get into peak physical condition, he was busy falling apart.
Del Potro weathered it all. He kept trying. Ranked as high as No. 4, he's been in and out -- but mostly out -- of the elite level. Yet he has played some heroic matches along the way. Among others, he defeated Novak Djokovic in the bronze-medal match at the 2012 London Olympics, and also eliminated the Serbian star four years later in Rio en route to a silver medal. Later in 2016, del Potro also led Argentina to its first Davis Cup triumph after four frustrating -- and sometimes humiliating -- losses.
Those are the kinds of matches that win people's hearts and minds. Those are the matches that make your countrymen weep, as well as celebrate with you. Del Potro said he doesn't like to compare matches; he's just happy that all of them were "epic."
Can he produce another epic against Federer in the quarterfinals Wednesday? It will be a big ask, given how much Monday's match likely took out of del Potro. When he was reminded this win was reminiscent of his conquest of Federer in that final eight years ago, del Potro smiled and said, "I would like to have the trophy after these four matches."
Many in the Grandstand on Monday would have given it to him, right there.