Name: Juan Martin Del Potro
DOB: September 23, 1988
Country: Argentina
Place of Birth: Tandil, Argentina
Height: 6' 6
Turn pro: 2005
Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
Racquet: Wilson K Factor KSix-One 95
At the beginning of the year 2005, tennis player Juan Martin Del Potro was ranked number 1,077 – by the end of the year, he went up to the top 100, jumping over a whopping 900 places. Del Potro achieved this feat by winning three Futures tournaments and as of October of 2007, he is the youngest of the ATP Top 100, his highest rank being number 49.
Del Potro entered the tennis scene on February 11, 2007 at the Davis Cup. Representing the country of Argentina, Del Potro won the fourth match against Austria, providing the critical third point that allowed classification for the quarterfinals.
At a tall 195 centimeters, Del Potro prefers to play on hard court rather than clay, which is quite different from the average Argentine player.
In 2007, Del Potro made his first appearance at the Wimbledon. Although Roger Federer defeated him in the second match (score: 2-6, 5-7, 1-6), Del Potro was able to prove his skills through his performance at other tournaments. This year, He reached the quarterfinals of the Nottingham and the semifinals of the Adelaide. Del Potro employs a Wilson K Factor racquet and wears the Nike brand.
Del Potro was entered into three ITF Circuit tournaments in Argentina as a wildcard when he was only 14 years of age. However, he was unfortunately defeated in all three events by the first round.
At the age of 15, Del Potro won his first professional match at an ITF Circuit tournament in Buenos Aires. He beat player Matias Niemiz, but lost the second round to Sebastian Decoud. In Campinas, Brazil, he made it to the quarterfinals of yet another ITF Circuit tournament, at 16 years of age.
Thereafter, Del Potro participated in a long series of ITF Circuits. In El Salvador, Del Potro reached the quarterfinals of an ITF Circuit and by the time he turned 16, he was able to participate in the ITF Circuit at Mexico. There, he played in his very first professional singles final, but ended up losing to Darko Madjarovski. In Santiago, Chile, Del Potro played at two ITF Circuit tournaments, eventually earning professional titles at both, defeating players Jorge Aguilar and Thiago Alves. Del Potro gained his third professional title at Cordoba, Argentina, which is his native country. At the ITF Circuit, he defeated Damian Patriarca to successful claim his title. At yet another competition, the Campos do Jordao Challenger in Brazil, Del Potro was defeated by Andre Sa in the final match. Del Potro has been waiting to qualify for the U.S. Open, which would be his first Grand Slam. By age 17, Del Potro beat Boris Pasanski at the Montevideo Challenger, claiming another title.
At his first ATP Tour tournament in Vina del Mar, Del Potro won the first round against Albert Portas, but lost to Fernando Gonzalez in the second round. However, he made up for his loss at the Aguascalientes Challenger, where he beat player Sergio Roitman to win both the final and the title. Del Potro’s first Grand Slam participation was at the French Open at the young age of 17. He was defeated b y Juan Carlos Ferrero in the first round, who had won the French Open once before. At the ATP event at Umag, Croatia, Del Potro lost against Stanislas Wawrinka at the quarterfinals, who eventually went on to win the title. Del Potro went on to win the title for the Segovia Challenger that took place in Spain, where he beat Benjamin Becker in the final match. At the U.S. Open, Del Potro sadly lost against Alejandro Falla in the very first round. The same happened at his first ATP Masters Series tournament in Spain; Del Potro was defeated by Joachim Johansson in the first round. He qualified for the ATP event in Basle, Switzerland, but was defeated by Fernando Gonzalez yet again, in the quarterfinals.
In the ATP semifinals in Adelaide (his first ATP semifinal), Del Potro was defeated by Chris Guccione. Del Potro also qualified for the Australian Open – where he reached the second round against Fernando Gonzalez, but had to retire from the match. The ATP Masters Series in Indian Wells, California and in Miami, Florida proved to be somewhat successful for Del Potro – he made it to the second round and the fourth round respectively, defeating Jonas Bjorkman, Marcos Baghdatis, and Mikhail Youzhny along the way. However, he ended up losing to Rafael Nadal, preventing further progression. At the French Open, Del Potro was defeated by champion Rafael Nadal once again. The ATP event at the Queen’s Club was Del Potro’s first event on a grass court surface, but he managed to reach the second round nonetheless, eventually being defeated by Rafael Nadal yet again. In the Nottingham ATP tournament, he lost against player Ivo Karlovic in the quarterfinals, which happened to be on a grass court. At his first Wimbledon, Del Potro reached the second round, defeating Davide Sanguinetti in the first. However, he was eventually defeated by Roger Federer, who went on to win the title. At the ATP Masters Series in Cincinnati, he lost against Carlos Moya in the third round, failing to win the title. Del Potro joined Travis Parrott to be able to compete for a doubles title at an ATP tournament in Indianapolis, where he did indeed win the title. Del Potro defeated Nicolas Mahut and Jurgen Melzer at the U.S. Open to reach the third round, in which he lost to Novak Dokovic. At the ATP event in Stockholm, he played his first round against Thomas Johansson, although he was forced to retire the match. In Madrid, Spain, Del Potro got to the third round of the ATP Masters Series tournament, but was defeated by player David Nalbandian.
As a junior player, Del Potro had won the junior title at the International Junior Tournament in Chile. At the Junior French Open in 2005, he managed to reach the quarterfinals, an equally impressive feat. Del Potro played in three major finals – the International Casablanca Cup of 2005, the Argentina Cup of 2004, and the Campionati Internazionali D’Italia of 2