Early in the third set of the Basel final, hometown favorite Roger Federer took some decidedly unfriendly fire from opponent Juan Martin del Potro on the Argentine's errant serve. At right, a .GIF of del Potro's body serve achieving its goal, replete with Federer's not-at-all-neutral response.
It appears that it actually strikes him on the upper left leg, though some commentators at the time thought his "nether region" took the blow. Still, it's enough to give the man pause. Federer shook it off good-naturedly enough, as it turned out, but the fleeting incident did shake up Delpo briefly, as he double-faulted on the next point but ultimately managed to garner a crucial hold for 1-all in the final set. Del Potro served big all match long, ultimately taking the title in Federer's home country by the count of 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3). Yea, it was obviously as dramatic as that scoreline indicates.
Kudos to [@HinchadaDelpo for bringing that GIF to life.]
—Jonathan Scott (@jonscott9)