Top 4 US Open men's finals in the Open Era

#1 Juan Martin Del Potro vs Roger Federer (2009)

US Open 2009 Champion Juan Martin Del Potro

Roger Federer had faced two tough defeats at the hands of his great rival Rafael Nadal - in the 2008 Wimbledon final and the 2009 Australian Open final. But the suave Swiss won a record 15th Grand Slam title by beating Andy Roddick in an equally pulsating 5-set encounter at Wimbledon 2009.

Going into the 2009 US Open, Federer was looking to lift the trophy for a 6th straight time - a feat no man had achieved.

On the other side of the draw was a 21-year-old Argentine - Juan Martin Del Potro, whose stock had begun to rise from 2008. Del Potro was the 6th seed, and had taken out the mighty Nadal in straight sets in the semi-final.

Federer, the World No. 1 and top seed, began the final in fine form and took the first set 6-3. But Del Potro refused to hand the match to Federer so easily, as he held on and continued to push in the second set to ensure a tie-break, which he eventually won.

A single break of the Del Potro serve gave Federer the bragging rights in the third as he edged his nose ahead yet again. But the Argentine again got the better of Federer in a tiebreaker, taking the fourth set and going into the fifth riding a huge wave of momentum.

Federer looked out of sorts in the decider as he dropped his serve twice to allow the young Argentine to win his maiden Grand Slam title. The final score read 3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 in Del Potro's favor.