Olympic Tennis - Roger Federer beats Juan Martin Del Potro in four-hour epic

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by Crunch Sports Staff

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Roger Federer (credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Roger Federer beat Juan Martin Del Potro in arguably the greatest Olympic tennis match of all time on Friday, reaching the final of the men's singles after an epic battle that lasted over four hours.

Just days after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Milos Raonic set the record for the longest Olympic match ever, Federer and Del Potro smashed it in a thrilling semi-final which saw the Swiss stretched to the limit before prevailing 3-6 7-6 19-17.

You could cut the tension with a knife at Wimbledon as Federer and Del Potro battled it out for four hours and 26 minutes.

Federer is desperate to win Olympic singles gold and this is surely his best and last chance. With Rafael Nadal injured and the event being held on the grass of the All-England Club, Federer will never get a better opportunity and he'll be nearly 35 by the time the Rio Olympics roll along in 2016.

However for a long time, it looked like he was going to be denied as Del Potro produced the sort of tennis which saw him win the 2009 US Open. The Argentine outplayed Federer in the opening set and had the Swiss clinging on in the early stages of the second, before he hit back to clinch a tiebreak, letting out a huge roar.

The final set was simply an epic. There are no third set tiebreaks in the Olympics and for a long time it looked like the deadlock would never be broken. Federer served for the match and missed multiple break points before he eventually clinched victory, with relief written all over his face.

He now has a much needed day off before Sunday's final.

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