Juan Martin Del Potro stunned Roger Federer 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 to win a thrilling US Open.

Del Potro began the tournament as the sixth seed and is now the first South American player to win the creme de la creme of Men’s Tennis since Guillermo Vilas way back in 1977. Vilas watched his fellow countryman win the grand slam event.

After winning his first Grand Slam, Del Potro told the crowd “It is amazing for South America and amazing for me and I think this will be forever in my mind.”

The bookie’s favourite, Federer was preparing to win a sixth successive title in New York, after winning his 40th consecutive match in the US open against Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. Federer was certainly not at his best during the match and appeared distant as Del Porto clinched the victory.

Federer told the crowd after in the awards ceremony; “I would like to congratulate Juan Martin. He was the best. Of course I would have loved to win but five or six years ago I never thought I would win 40 matches in a row here”

Del Potro was emotional after the game and broke down during his speech.

“One of my dreams is to win the US Open and one is to be like Roger. One is done but I will need to work hard to do the other,” he said.