Juan Martin Del Potro

Juan Martín del Potro

Nickname(s) Palito, Delpo, Enano, La torre de Tandil
Country Argentina
Residence Tandil, Argentina
Date of birth September 23, 1988 (1988-09-23) (age 20)
Place of birth Tandil, Argentina
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 82.5 kg (182 lb)
Turned pro 2005
Retired Active
Plays Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money US$2,004,786
Singles
Career record: 92–54
Career titles: 5
Highest ranking: No. 6 (January 19, 2009)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open QF (2009)
French Open 2nd (2008)
Wimbledon 2nd (2007, 2008)
US Open QF (2008)
Major tournaments
Tour Finals RR (2008)
Doubles
Career record: 13–15
Career titles: 1
Highest ranking: No. 131 (July 30, 2007)
Infobox last updated on: January 27, 2009.

Juan Martín del Potro (born September 23, 1988) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He became the world number six on January 19, 2009.

In August 2008, he became the first player in ATP history to win his first four career titles in as many tournaments.[1] He also completed the second longest winning streak in 2008, and the second longest by a teenager in the open era, behind Rafael Nadal—with his winning sequence spanning 23 matches over five tournaments.[2]

Early life

Del Potro was born in Tandil, Argentina. His father Daniel Del Potro, played semi-pro rugby union in Argentina and is a veterinarian. His mother Patricia, is a teacher. He has a younger sister named Julieta. Del Potro speaks Spanish, Italian, and English. Aside from tennis, he enjoys playing soccer and supports the Boca Juniors team in Argentina and Juventus in Italy.

He began playing tennis at age seven, with his childhood idol being Pete Sampras. He also admires tennis pros Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt.

Tennis career

2003

At the age of 14, Del Potro received wildcards to three ITF Circuit events in Argentina, where he lost in the first round of each.

2004

In 2004, Del Potro won his first professional match, at the age of 15, at the ITF Circuit event in Buenos Aires by defeating Matias Niemiz, he then went on to lose in the second round. Later that year, Del Potro reached the quarterfinals of the ITF Circuit event in Campinas, Brazil. He also reached the finals in the Argentina Cup and Campionati Internazionali D'Italia Junior tournaments.


2005

Del Potro began the year by reaching the finals of the ITF Junior Circuit called "Copa del Café" (Coffee Bowl) in Costa Rica, which he lost to Robin Haase. He was a crowd favorite and was widely known for his short temper.

He went on to reach the quarterfinals of the ITF Circuit event in El Salvador. At the age of 16, he reached his second professional singles final at the International Casablanca Cup in Mexico where he lost to Darko Madjarovski. He also won consecutive titles at two Junior ITF Circuit events in Santiago, Chile, including the 26th International Junior tournament. He won his third title in his home country by defeating Damian Patriarca at the ITF Circuit event in Cordoba, Argentina.

After turning pro later that year, he reached the final of the Campos do Jordao Challenger in Brazil where he lost to André Sá. At age 17, he won the Montevideo Challenger by defeating Boris Pašanski in the finals. That same year, he also attempted to qualify for his first Grand Slam at the US Open. After ending 2005 ranked #1,077 in the world, Del Potro jumped over 900 positions, largely due to winning three Futures tournaments.

2006

In February, Del Potro played his first ATP tour event in Viña del Mar where he defeated Albert Portas in the first round before losing to Fernando González in the second round. Later, he won the Aguascalientes Challenger by defeating Sergio Roitman in the final.

Del potro qualified for the main draw of his first Grand Slam in the 2006 French Open, at the age of 17, where he lost in the opening round to former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero. Later that year, he reached the quarterfinals of the ATP event in Umag, Croatia where he lost to the eventual champion, Stanislas Wawrinka. In Spain, he won the Segovia Challenger by defeating Benjamin Becker in the finals.

Del Potro qualified for his first US Open in 2006, where he lost in the first round to Alejandro Falla. He went on to qualify for his first ATP Masters Series tournament in Spain where he lost in the first round to Joachim Johansson. Having received an invitation, thanks to Roger Federer, he reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland where he lost to the eventual runner-up Fernando González.

2007

Del Potro began the year by reaching his first semifinal in ATP Adelaide, Australia, where he lost to Chris Guccione. He would then reach the second round of the Australian Open where he had to retire in his match against Fernando González in the fifth set.

On February 11, Del Potro played for Argentina at the first round of the Davis Cup against Austria winning the 4th and definite rubber, giving Argentina the classification for the quarterfinals.

He reached the second round of the Indian Wells Masters and went on to reach the fourth round of the Miami Masters where he defeated Jonas Björkman, Marcos Baghdatis, and Mikhail Youzhny before falling to Rafael Nadal. In May, he lost in the first round of the French Open to eventual champion, Rafael Nadal.

In his first grass court event, Del Potro reached the second round at Queen's Club where he lost to Rafael Nadal. He also reached the quarterfinals in Nottingham the following week where he lost to Croatian, Ivo Karlović. At his inaugural Wimbledon, he defeated Davide Sanguinetti in the first round before losing to eventual champion Roger Federer in the second round.

Del Potro qualified for the ATP Masters Series event in Cincinnati where he reached the third round before losing to Carlos Moya. He partnered with Travis Parrott to win the doubles title at the ATP event in Indianapolis. At the US Open, he defeated Nicolas Mahut and Jürgen Melzer before losing to eventual finalist Novak Đoković in the third round in straight sets. He also reached the third round of the Madrid Masters before losing to eventual champion David Nalbandian.

2008

The Argentine enjoyed his best season to date in 2008, winning four titles and finishing in the Top 10 for the first time. He also finished as the country's number one player and the highest ranked South American, ahead of David Nalbandian. Del Potro started the season, losing in the first round in Adelaide to Michael Russel and then made it to the second round of the Australian Open in January, retiring in his match against David Ferrer due to an injury. Del Potro returned to the circuit in March, winning his first match against Jesse Levine, 7–5, 6–1 at the Miami Masters. In June, he reached the semi-finals of the Ordina Open, losing to eventual winner David Ferrer in straight sets.

After losing in the second round of Wimbledon, an outstanding summer followed for the Argentine. Del Potro won his first career ATP tour title at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, defeating Richard Gasquet in straight sets in the final[3]. A week later, Del Potro reached his second career ATP Tour final at the Austrian Open in Kitzbühel, where he beat local hope and sixth seed Jürgen Melzer 6–2, 6–1, in less than an hour, to claim his second title in two weeks. He won his third consecutive title at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, beating Andy Roddick in 6–1, 7–6(2) in the final. A fourth consecutive title followed a week later in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C., where he recorded a 6–3, 6–3 victory over Viktor Troicki, becoming the first player in ATP history to win his first four career titles in as many tournaments.[2]

Del Potro at the US OpenAt the 2008 US Open, del Potro progressed to the third round, where he won his first match to five sets in the circuit against Gilles Simon to reach the last 16. He then qualified for the quarterfinals by beating Kei Nishikori in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, he was stopped by Andy Murray, losing in four tight sets after almost four hours. By reaching the quarterfinals, he achieved a career best result at a Grand Slam. He was defeated after 23 consecutive victories: the second longest winning streak in 2008, the second longest by a teenager in the open era, and the third best among Argentine players in history.[2][4]

He was selected to play the Davis Cup tie between Argentina and Russia, which took place on September 19–21. He won his first singles match against Nikolay Davydenko in three sets 6–1, 6–4, 6–2. He also won the fifth and deciding match against Igor Andreev in straight sets 6–4, 6–2, 6–1, booking Argentina a place in the final.

At the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, he made the final by defeating number 11 seed Jarkko Nieminen, number one seed and defending champion David Ferrer, and number four seed Richard Gasquet. He was defeated by Tomáš Berdych 6–1, 6–4 in the final. After the match, both Berdych and del Potro commented that he was not playing his best tennis.[5]

At the Madrid Masters he lost in the quarterfinals in straight sets to Roger Federer. He reached the semifinals of his next tournament, the Davidoff Swiss Indoors, before losing to countryman David Nalbandian,[6] and was beaten by Nalbandian again, in the second round of the Paris Masters. This left del Potro's qualification for the Tennis Masters Cup out of his hands; fortunately for him, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat James Blake in the semifinals, which was enough to ensure his place at the year-end event.[7]

Del Potro won one match at the Masters Cup, against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but lost his other two matches, against the higher ranked Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko, meaning that he exited the tournament in the round robin stage. This was his last event of the year on the ATP Tour. He went on to lose one rubber in the Davis Cup final, against Feliciano Lopez, as his team succumbed to a 3–1 loss against Spain. He was forced to withdraw from his second match due to a thigh injury.[8]

2009

In his second appearance at the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand (after a straight-set defeat to compatriot Agustin Calleri as a wildcard entry in 2007), Del Potro was the top seed for the tournament. After a first-round bye, Del Potro defeated promising Latvian youngster Ernests Gulbis in three sets in his opening match of the season. He went on to defeat Serbian Viktor Troicki in the quarter-final and Swede Robin Söderling in the semi-final. Del Potro then defeated American Sam Querrey in the final 6-4, 6-4 to win the title, the fifth of his career.[9]

Seeded eighth at the ongoing 2009 Australian Open, Del Potro disposed of Germans Mischa Zverev and Florian Mayer in the opening two rounds, before defeating third-round opponent Gilles Muller in four sets, coming back from a set down. Del Potro did the same in the fourth round, defeating Croatian Marin Cilic 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Del Potro was absolutely penetrated in the quarterfinals, 3-6, 0-6, 0-6 by Roger Federer

Equipment and apparel

Del Potro currently uses the Wilson (K)Factor (K)Six-One 95 Racquet, and is sponsored by Nike.