US Open 2013: Five players who flattered to deceive in the first week

Sports is where script remains unrehearsed and unchoreographed. Naturally, sometimes the script will deviate from following the expected and conventional way. And there arise the shocks and the disappointments that reverberate through the sports fraternity.

The 2013 US Open, too, hasn’t been an exception. So far, we have witnessed quite a few bewildering moments laced with sadness when some of the in-form players have taken the shocking route of early departure from the year’s last Grand Slam. Let us have a look at five of those players who bid adieu as early as the first week.

Juan Martin del Potro

The towering Argentine had been exuding glimpses of his thundering Slam-winning form throughout the year and at Wimbledon, it all came alive. He battled hyper-extension of the knee and was even close to quitting numerous times but the insatiable desire to fight never left him. And so the World No. 6 and the World No. 1 Novak Djokovic orchestrated one of the finest and most dramatic acts of the entire fortnight at the All England Club.

That was an early marker for the 2009 US Open champion to be counted as one of the contenders for the Open. And he continued to sparkle on the US Open Series too, capturing his third crown at Washington and reaching the semi-finals at Cincinnati.

When the US Open draw came out, fans were sent into delirious joy on seeing the same two names – Del Potro and Djokovic possibly crossing swords in the quarter-finals and this time on their favoured hardcourts.

But Lleyton Hewitt had other ideas. The gritty 32-year-old rolled back the years to oust the Tandil-native in a dramatic five-setter where Del Potro, who was suffering from a wrist niggle, simply wilted away in the decider.