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U.S. OPEN

September 4, 2017

Juan Martin Del Potro

New York, NY, USA

J. DEL POTRO/D. Thiem

1-6, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. When you finally won and you lifted your hands to the sky, what were you thinking?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Well, many things. I play one of the epic match of my career here in the US Open, which is my favorite tournament, in front of a great crowd. I got exhausted after the last point of the match. That's what I did with my hands, looking the sky.

But I'm so glad to go through. I'm play a fantastic battle against one of the best players of the tour.

Q. The fan support was very visible. Everyone was backing you in the crowd. How much did that mean to you and carry you through a comeback like that?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: It was very important because I was trying to retire the match in the second set. 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.

I did well, and I start to enjoy little bit more about the fans. I think I did everything well after the third set. The crowd enjoy with me all points. It was unbelievable atmosphere.

Q. Why do you think people love you so much?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: I don't know (smiling). I think the people loves my effort to come back and play tennis. They know what have been through with all my wrist problems. They like one guy who never give ups, and he's trying to play tennis.

You can see my backhand is not good enough yet, but I'm still trying. I think the people likes that.

Q. One of the people who admires you most is Roger Federer. He was just here speaking about you. You get to play him now. You had one of your greatest moments ever tonight, but your greatest was against him. What do you think of the match that's coming up?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Well, of course, I admire him, too. Everybody loves him. Is going to be interesting match for play. It will be after eight years again in the central court of this tournament. I know how to play if I want to win, but I will see how physically I feel after this battle.

But always is a pleasure to play the greatest guy on the history.

Q. Did you come close to not competing in that match? How confident are you that you'll be able to recover?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yes, I was thinking to retire in the middle of the second set because I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move well. Dominic was dominating the match so easy.

But then when we start the third set, I broke his serve very quick, and then I won the set in 20 minutes. Then the history change a lot. I starting to see the crowd. I took all the energy from the fans. That's what I did in the end, just keep fighting. I don't give ups any points from the third until the fifth set.

I was ready to win the match in that moment.

Q. What kind of medical treatment did you receive after the match? How are you feeling now?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: I feel tired. But we cannot do magic, you know. Just massage, some physical movement with the trainer.

But hopefully my day off tomorrow I can recovery a little bit more. Then I will see if I'm ready to play in good conditions against Roger.

Q. You have a big forehand, big game, yet you're really not an intimidating person. You seem like a gentle guy. Do you think this has something to do with your popularity, the way you connect with people?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yes, maybe. I know the people likes when I hit hard with my forehands. The people stand up from the chairs when I hit good winners. I like to do that. But it doesn't happen very often. When I feel that confidence to do my best shots, I know I can be dangerous for all the guys.

Q. Can you talk about your approach when it comes to challenging the call.
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yeah, I had one more challenge anyway, so I took the challenge for sure because I saw the ball clearly out. But the chair umpire say the ball was in. Then after watching him, I confused a little bit. I was scared for that ball.

But I got lucky, the ball was out, and I won the match.

Q. Satisfaction when you won Davis Cup in Croatia. Today the crowd. The Olympic Games when you beat Djokovic. What is better? How can you compare?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: No, I cannot compare that matches. All the matches were epic. I will remember all matches, for sure.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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