Portal:Tennis/Selected biography/18

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Juan Martin del Potro at the 2008 US Open

Juan Martín del Potro (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxwan marˈtin del ˈpotɾo]; born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine professional tennis player who is the current 89th ranked player in the world. Del Potro achieved a top 10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4. Soon after attaining this ranking, however, del Potro had to withdraw from most of the tournaments in 2010 due to wrist injury, and his ranking plummeted.

Having started playing tennis at the age of seven, del Potro won his first senior match in 2004 at the age of 15. In 2008, he became the first player in ATP history to win his first four career titles in as many tournaments. 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. Del Potro captured his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2009 US Open defeating Roger Federer in the final, and Nadal in the semifinal, becoming the first and only man ever (as of Jan 2011) to beat both Federer and Nadal in the same Grand Slam tournament. He became the second Argentine and the fifth youngest man to win the US Open title in the Open Era. [...]

Del Potro is primarily an offensive baseliner with a powerful serve and deep, flat/topspin groundstrokes. His forehand shot is one of his main strengths, capable of generating speeds over 100 mph, and he also possesses a very consistent and powerful double-handed backhand. Del Potro's height allows him to get a powerful first serve, and makes it easier for him to return high topspin balls. Del Potro's best surfaces are hard and clay, while his game on grass has yet to improve with his height being cited as a possible factor.