Fifteen years ago, a world No 125, handed a wild card by the Wimbledon organisers, played wildly entertaining tennis across two weeks.
He defeated Carlos Moya, Andy Roddick, Greg Rusedski, Marat Safin, Tim Henman and, finally, Patrick Rafter in front of a delirious crowd to become the lowest-ranked player to win the championship.
Goran Ivanisevic could barely conceal his emotions towards the end of that unforgettable final. The Croat, a three-time runner-up, was in tears even as he served for the match, at 8-7 in the fifth set, and, once, he even buried his face into a towel as he sobbed.
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The tennis world cried with Ivanisevic that evening as he became the first wild card, and the only until now, to win a men’s singles title at a major.
There were probably not many, if any, dry eyes in the stands as Ivanisevic climbed into the stands to celebrate with his family and friends.
On the emotion scales, no event in the world of tennis has probably come close to that evening. Not until now, at least. But what if Juan Martin del Potro, a wild card and the world No 142, does an Ivanisevic at the US Open, which got underway on Monday?
Imagine the emotions and the noise inside that 23,771-seater coliseum that is the Arthur Ashe Stadium if Del Potro was playing the final, and the rapture that would follow if he wins his second singles title at New York.
His first title had come in 2009, when the Argentine defeated Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals and Roger Federer in the final.
Enamoured, the tennis world started talking about rebranding the elite “Big Four” club to “Big Five”, for Del Potro looked the part.
Sadly, it was not meant to be.
Four months after his New York triumph, the first of Del Potro’s wrist injuries surfaced. He played through the 2010 Australian Open with a damaged right wrist, and he had to spend the following nine months on the sidelines.
He slipped from fourth in the rankings to No 262, but by the end of 2013 he was back in the top five before fate frowned upon him once again.
Playing against Somdev Devvarman at Dubai in 2014, Del Potro was forced to retire because of a wrist injury – on the left side this time – and could not play again that year. He attempted a comeback in 2015 but could play only four matches before the wrist injury sent him back to the surgeon’s table.
Frustrated, Del Potro thought about retiring from the game towards the end of last year, but his friends and family prevailed upon him to give it another try. He could not thank them enough following a sensational week at the Rio Olympics, which fetched him a silver medal.
Ranked No 1,045 in the world in February as he returned after three surgeries on his left wrist, Del Potro made his first big splash of the summer when he defeated world No 5 Stan Wawrinka in the second round at Wimbledon, his first grand slam appearance since the 2014 Australian Open.
Then came Rio. Del Potro started his campaign with a stunning win over Novak Djokovic in the first round and then defeated Nadal in the semis. Though he missed out on the gold, losing to Andy Murray in the final, Del Potro was not complaining.
“Six months ago I was not even playing tennis,” Del Potro, who will open his first US Open campaign since 2013 against fellow Argentine Diego Schwartzman on Tuesday, was quoted as saying by The Telegraph newspaper. “I had been close to quitting for the last year.
“So it doesn’t matter if I’m top 10, top 50 or top 100. When I get on the court and see the crowd, hear them cheering for me, it’s amazing. I don’t care about the rankings or winning the tournament.”
Earlier in Rio, Del Potro had said he was “living a dream”. “It’s like a movie,” he added.
A movie indeed, but one that has been following some tragic Shakespearean script since his 2009 triumph.
Hopefully, there is an Ivanisevic-like moment written in it for the next two weeks.
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