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Britain's Davis Cup captain John Lloyd believes Roger Federer is facing the biggest challenge to his domination of men's tennis thanks to the emergence of new US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.
The 20-year-old Argentine blasted Federer off court with huge forehand shots in Monday's final and that victory will give new hope to Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic that they can replace the Swiss as world No1.
Lloyd said: "What really impressed me about Del Potro was the way his level of tennis went up for the last two matches he played in the Open and his emergence is very healthy for the game.
"There is a hugely exciting group of young players - including Andy - who are now making a massive impact on tennis and it will be fascinating to see how Federer reacts; will he want to try even harder or ask himself if he can deal with the extra demands of remaining the best in the game now that he has a family and so many slam titles already in the bag. Does he still have the hunger?
"One thing certain is that we are in for a tremendous run-up to the Barclays World Tour finals in London in November and then who knows what is going to happen when it comes to the slam tournaments in 2010?
"Federer and Nadal are proven slam champions, Andy is pressing for a first title, Djokovic has one already while Del Potro will be going into the events as the US Open champion."
Lloyd, whose team face Poland in a relegation play-off in Liverpool on Friday, was stunned by Del Potro's display at Flushing Meadows.
He said: "It was a magnificent performance of pace and variation and there is no doubt in my mind that he has the biggest and most powerful forehand in tennis."
