In intimate, late-night affair, Stan Wawrinka ends Juan Martin del Potro's U.S. Open run

NEW YORK—Stan Wawrinka wanted a coffee. Not after the countless forehands he traded with Juan Martin del Potro in a match that ended at 1:22 a.m., but before it all began, in a barren cafeteria inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Simona Halep had just won a 12-minute service game to take Serena Williams to a deciding third set in their quarterfinal, and knowing his match would run late, Wawrinka hurried to grab a pick-me-up.

But as Wawrinka lamented to coach Magnus Norman on their way out of the cafeteria, there was no coffee to be found. He grabbed a sandwich for sustenance, perhaps as a substitute for the absent java, and was told that the cash register was closed. An understanding and knowledgeable employee let the two-time Grand Slam champion through—no charge—but it was an inauspicious beginning to Wawrinka’s night in Flushing Meadows.

The marathon game that Halep and Williams waged was but a prelude to another three hours and 13 minutes of enthralling hitting by Wawrinka and Del Potro. It demanded exceptional skill and reserves of stamina, and took place on an oppressively humid night. Tennis balls don’t usually travel at exceptional speeds in such conditions, but the two biggest hitters in the game found a way to override this law of science. They traded shots, they traded points, they traded games, all while knowing that it would require yet another deluge of searing strokes to leave any noticeable effect.

At the stroke of midnight, for all the points they’d each won—Wawrinka 69, Del Potro 71—nothing had truly been accomplished. Their best-of-five-set contest had been rendered a best of three, with the Argentine having taken the second set, 6-4. Juan Martin del Potro wanted a water. He was given it, in unlimited supply.

The fans wanted beer. A pair of crowd favorites were taking this tussle into the witching hours, when this towering edifice can resemble an intimate side court. As fatigued ticket holders leave Ashe stadium with each passing changeover, there comes a point at which the ushers are relieved of their duties, and those ones in the nosebleeds can come down and sit next to those who turn up their noses.

But no matter their brand of shirt or level of income, they all wanted beer. I have no idea how much money Heineken must pay the tournament to serve as its exclusive supplier of suds—it must be in the millions—but at $10 a can, it’s a good bet that the company manages to make it back. They probably turned a profit on this night alone—even some credentialed media were sipping a frothy beverage.

By the time the upper tier of the stadium was almost entirely courtside, Wawrinka had taken a two-sets-to-one lead. He broke Del Potro at 4-3 in the third set after the Olympic silver medalist saved two break points, one with a blistering forehand that caught the line and another with a delicate drop shot. It was a fitting one-two punch for a gentle giant.

But the struggle was a troubling sign. Del Potro received medical attention in between sets, and his serve was leaking. He double-faulted to give Wawrinka the first game of the fourth set, and was broken again two games later. Returning serve down 40-15, 0-3, Del Potro challenged an out call on a first-serve let. He lost the review, won the point, but lost the game. He was desperate.

So were his fans, both the patriots who wore blue-and-white Argentina soccer jerseys and those who called the former U.S. Open champion “Del Porto.” Even a “Let’s go Potro” chant, improvement as it was, couldn’t summon something magical from the wild card.

But then, like magic, it did. Before Wawrinka served his way into the semifinals at 5-2, Del Potro gave his admirers more than perhaps even a victory could. He couldn’t keep it up on the court, and he couldn’t keep it inside, either. With tears welling in his eyes and the comeback he’s made this year on his mind, Del Potro acknowledged his supporters with a heartfelt tap of his racquet as Ole’ chants engulfed everyone still inside.

Wawrinka was one of those supporters. As Del Potro walked toward the locker room, surely disappointed but wearing an unmistakable smile, Wawrinka clapped, and then applauded the diehard fans who stayed the whole time.

“I need some sleep,” Wawrinka told Brad Gilbert in the on-court interview.

It was the best cup of coffee Stan never had.