Ricky Dimon

• World Tour Finals profile: No. 5 Juan Martin Del Potro

  2009-11-16 23:09:30
  

  In the eight days leading up to the 2009 World Tour Finals, Ricky will individually preview this year’s eight qualifiers, starting with No. 8 and progressing toward No. 1. With the Roddick-Soderling situation still not confirmed, up next is Juan Martin Del Potro.

   

  After a breakout 2008 campaign in which he went from an afterthought to a World Tour Finals participant in less than five months, Del Potro’s participation in 2009’s season-ending event was never in doubt. The 21-year-old Argentine, who won four consecutive ATP tournaments last summer, triumphed in his first appearance of 2009 at the Heineken Open and—until just recently—never slowed down.

   

  Del Potro went on to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, but he just as he had done en route to his five career ATP titles, he did so against unimposing competition. Once he ran into Roger Federer, Del Potro won a humiliating three games in three sets.

   

  Questions—legitimate ones, at that—about Del Potro’s ability to contend with the top players were put to rest in Miami. Two weeks after getting blown out by Rafael Nadal at the Indian Wells Masters, Del Potro stunned Nadal in the Miami quarterfinals to really announce himself as a serious contender on the ATP Tour. Keep in mind that Nadal, at that time, was not the Nadal he is now. The Spaniard had already won the Australian Open and Indian Wells and was clearly the best player on tour.

   

  By the time the U.S. Open rolled around, Del Potro’s Grand Slam-clinching upset of Federer only confirmed what we already knew: Del Potro was a bona fide star.

   

  How He Got Here

   

  2009 record: 51-14
  
  Grand Slam performances: Australian Open QF, French Open SF, Wimbledon R2, U.S. Open W

   

  Titles: Auckland, Washington, U.S. Open

   

  Runner-Ups: Montreal

   

  Key Wins

   

  Australian Open R4: d. Marin Cilic 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

  Miami QF: d. Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3)

  Madrid QF: d. Andy Murray 7-6(4), 6-3

  French Open R4: d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4

  Washington F: d. Andy Roddick 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6)

  Montreal QF: d. Rafael Nadal 7-6(5), 6-1

  Montreal SF: d. Andy Roddick 4-6, 6-2, 7-5

  U.S. Open SF: d. Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2

  U.S. Open F: d. Roger Federer 3-6, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2

   

  Head-to-Head vs. other WTF participants

   

  vs. Roger Federer: 1-6 (1-3 on hard courts)

  vs. Rafael Nadal: 3-4 (3-2 on hard courts)

  vs. Novak Djokovic: 0-3 (0-2 on hard courts)

  vs. Andy Murray: 1-4 (0-3 on hard courts)

  vs. Andy Roddick: 3-0 (3-0 on hard courts)

  vs. Nikolay Davydenko: 1-2 (0-2 on hard courts)

  vs. Fernando Verdasco: 0-0

   

  Outlook

   

  Summer called; it wants its Del Potro back.

   

  When Del Potro rolled through the summer hard-court swing by winning titles in Washington, Montreal, and at the U.S. Open, the world No. 5 looked like one of the favorites—if not the favorite—to eventually win the 2009 World Tour Finals.

   

  Nadal was suffering from two—albeit minor—injuries, Davydenko had been blown out by Murray in Montreal and by Robin Soderling at the U.S. Open, Roddick lost to Del Potro twice and did not even make the second week in New York, Djokovic was not looking like the best player in the world as he is right now, Murray lost early at the Open and was complaining about wrist problems, and Del Potro earned a career-defining win over world No. 1 Federer.

   

  What a difference two months make.

   

  Del Potro, suffering physically—and perhaps mentally—after capturing his first career Grand Slam title, played just two matches during the Asian swing. With a wrist injury of his own, he lost his Tokyo opener to little-known Edouard Roger-Vasselin in straight sets, then he retired from his first-round match at the Shanghai Masters one week later.

   

  After taking a month off to heal the wrist problem, Del Potro returned last week in Paris with a different injury: a Nadal-esque abdominal strain. He managed to get past Fernando Gonzalez in the third round, but he made it through just four games against Radek Stepanek in the quarterfinals.

   

  None of this bodes well for Del Potro’s prospects heading into the World Tour Finals. Not only is his health a major question mark, but Del Potro is also not at his best on indoor hard courts. Yes, he is an all-court player, but ideally he would rather play on a slower surface. Furthermore, Djokovic is on fire, Murray is healthy, Nadal is relatively healthy, and Davydenko recently prevailed in Shanghai.

   

  All of this should add up to an early exit in London for the U.S. Open champion. In fact, merely completing three round-robin matches would be an accomplishment.

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