Tennis Elbow: Still plenty of upside to Del Potro
February 20, 2012 · Print This Article
Welcome to Tennis Elbow, a new column that will look back on the week that was in the world of tennis. This week, Charles Blouin-Gascon looks back at the evolution of the career of Juan Martin Del Potro, who lost against Roger Federer in the Rotterdam tournament.
Roger Federer defeated Juan Martin Del Potro to capture the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam for his first title of the 2012 season and 71st of his career, but for once let’s focus on the loser.
Del Potro did lose the final by the convincing score of 6-1, 6-4, but he proved to everyone that he’s finally back from the wrist injury that he suffered early in the 2010 season.
Until 2011, the APT Tour had been Federer’s and Rafael Nadal’s world, and everyone else was simply happy to be living in it. Then Novak Djokovic asserted himself and has now become the residing alpha dog of the ATP.
But before there was Djokovic, there could have been Del Potro. At the 2009 US Open, Del Potro was the one who walked away with the win, not Federer–3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2. Before the end of that year, Del Potro turned 21 years old, reached the ATP World Tour final and became the youngest player in the top 10–for the second year running.
Del Potro then reached a career-high No. 4 ranking in January 2010–he looked poised to dethrone Djokovic at No. 3, if not even Federer or Nadal for either of the top tow rankings. Instead, it was a wrist injury that dethroned him and forced him to a nine-month break before he returned for the 2010 PTT Thailand Open. He lost quickly, 6-7, 4-6, in the first round against veteran Olivier Rochus.
Del Potro hit rock bottom on Jan. 31, 2010–a ranking of No. 485. Just like that, he had to do it all over again and conquer the ATP as he first did. And Del Potro’s return from injury, as well as such a lengthy layoff, shows that tennis is as much a mental game as any other sport. In his long climb back, the young man from Argentina lost matches he would have won convincingly just a year prior. There was the match against Rochus or a 2011 third-round US Open match against Gilles Simon–6-4, 6-7, 2-6, 6-7.
Del Potro is still just 23 years old, which means he’s got time on his side at least. He also has size on his side, and plenty of it. At six-foot-six, he’s usually the tallest player on the court unless he’s playing someone like Ivo Karlovic. And Del Potro may be from Argentina, but he doesn’t play the typical game of his countrymen. Rather, he plays like he’s the tallest player on the court as few men combine his combination of skills, power and shot-making ability.
His attacking style gives him the upper hand whenever he manages to dictate the tempo of rallies, which he does against most opponents. He does so with a heavy forehand, which Del Potro can hit flat or with a lot of topspin. (The shot is world class and at one point two years ago, it couldn’t be stopped by anything but the wrist injury.)
He has still holes in his game, most notably when he’s on the defensive, but he’s still pretty young. Barring injury–for Del Potro, that’s the dreaded word–he should have plenty of time to improve.
Other than the triumvirate of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, Del Potro remains the only man to have won a Grand Slam tournament since Marat Safin’s Australian Open crown in 2005–he’s proven that he can hang with the best. He’s also currently ranked No. 10, and rising quickly. Where did we hear that before?
by: Charles Blouin-Gascon
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