Most guys in Argentina grow up wanting to mimic Maradona or Messi, not Sampras and Agassi. Juan Martin del Potro was no different. In fact, in his youth, del Potro didn’t even know that tennis existed until the fateful day that he arrived at soccer practice early. Del Potro showed up at the pitch with an hour to spare and borrowed a racquet to hit tennis balls against the wall of Club Independiente in his hometown of Tandil to kill time. He liked it. Soon, he was routinely arriving early to hone his newfound skills, eventually getting spotted by the club’s tennis coach who persuaded him to take up the sport. “I love soccer,” maintains del Potro, “I still do. It was the sport I played when I was a kid; then I started playing tennis and I would play both sports until I had to choose one. I chose tennis.” It’s not hard to see that he made the right decision.
Under the tutelage of Tandil’s resident tennis guru Marcelo Gómez, del Potro stormed through the junior circuit with impressive outcomes in tournaments around the world. He went pro at 16, and at an age when most teenagers are worried more about getting their driver’s licenses than their place in the world rankings, del Potro was reaching the finals of ATP Challenger tournaments, a sort of proving ground for future tennis studs.
A year later, Juan Martin cemented his wunderkind status by reaching the ATP tour and subsequently qualifying for his first grand slam, the 2006 French Open. He ended up as the youngest player in the Top 100 and earned a spot on Argentina’s Davis Cup team in 2007. “That was a great sensation. It was my first time playing for my country and when I was able to win, this was the first time I felt the love and affection of all my countrymen inside a tennis court.” He won four straight ATP tour titles in 2008 — the first time in history a player has won their first four consecutive titles in as many tournaments. And mind you, at this point, he was still a teenager.
But he knew the best was yet to come. “Before I won my first ATP, I believed I could be among the best tennis players,” says del Potro. “After, I thought I could be even better and finally, I am where I am today.” Where he is today is a place that many tennis players can only fantasize about. Del Potro stunned the world at last year’s US Open, winning his first Grand Slam. “When I began playing and started to understand what this sport was about, one dream came to mind, winning the US Open,” says del Potro. “This was the tournament that I liked when I was a kid. Winning it was to accomplish my dream as an athlete and as a person.” He realized his boyhood dream in impressive form, overcoming what many would consider to be impossible odds by defeating Rafael Nadal in the semifinal and Roger Federer in the final, ending the Swiss star’s streak of five consecutive wins at Flushing Meadows.
The man has shown an astounding proficiency on both hard and clay courts. He is one of the tallest men ever to win a major title, and all that height definitely helps him get a lot behind a serve. It’s also been an asset in returning topspin balls, as seen in his matches against players like Nadal. His forehand shot regularly tops 100 mph. But lest you think he’s all power and no finesse, the 6’6” Argentine scours the court with surprising ease for a man of his size.
He has been sidelined for most of the year with a wrist injury, but after undergoing surgery at the Mayo Clinic, he is aiming to come back in time for the Paris Masters, stronger and ready to ascend to the heights that he has merely hinted at with his early prominence.
