del potro-is he really that good?

Vandenburg · Futures level

del potro-is he really that good?

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

It isn't out of place now, I have moved it to General Tennis section. . .

I think he is going to be very good, though he has certainly been able to take advantage of the fact that nearly all the top players were not playing these tournaments he has just won. It will be interesting to see how he does in the US Open when the big boys are all playing.

Ratty · County player

He's quite ugly isn't he?

A possible contender for the ugliest player in the top 100, although he has some stiff competition for Stepanek and Karlovic?

Sheddie · administrator

I agree Ratty, I think he's up there definately with Count Duckula

However.....one of my colleagues at tennistalk.com amazingly thinks otherwise and filed this rather strange article:
http://www.tennistalk.com/en/blog/Dani%20DeVine/20080815/Rock_Star_on_the_Rise:_Juan_Mart%C3%ADn_del_Potro

Be warned though, pic 3 is quite disgusting and nearly made me retch

Full credit to the guy, 4 titles is amazing even in weak fields and he's on fire at the moment. He has a fabulous baseline game, double-handed backhand was the shot which made his name in the juniors but now the forehand has become even more of a weapon. At 6'6 the serve is very handy too

I'm reckoning last 16 at the USO but unless he gets a jammy draw I don't think he'll get further. It'll be interesting to see how he does against the top stars of the game now. Roddick wasn't 100% when he beat him last week and although the Gasquet win was impressive it was on clay

Vandenburg · Futures level

yeh exactly
he hasnt beaten any top 10 players in these 4 titles apart from roddick and a gasquet on clay
the fact that he dislikes murray and is argy any way cant make him a crowd fav in UK i think.

Salmon · Tennis legend

Good to see that he is making this progress at last. I thought he would be top 20 ages ago but who knew that he was saving up for these four weeks!

He'll be one the Tour's fittest players or biggest idiots if he plays and does well at New Haven (unless he goes on to win the USO after that, which I doubt).

Will be interesting to see him at AO and RG next year, as they are played on his favoured surfaces.

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Del Potro definately isn't one of the fittest players on tour judging by how often he retires from matches!

Yeah, the fields haven't been great, but to 4 win titles in a row is very impressive, and building on the promise he showed a long time ago, before his career kind of stalled.

All depends on his draw at the US Open, but he should be looking at a 4th round appearance really or better if he is to back up this with some big results, and top 10 by the end of the year isn't out of the question give how few counting scores he has.

Salmon · Tennis legend

Withdrew from New Haven.

Sheddie · administrator

Well so far in the USO, he hasn't really lived up to his dark horse tag. Looked a bit ropey against both Canas and Bellucci, dropping a set against each

Now faces 1st major test in Gilles Simon who's been impressive so far

Sheddie · administrator

I thought this was quite a good summary of Del Potro's summer run, indicating how weak those tourneys were:

"Washington (No 2 seed): highest ranked player he beat was Haas at 48 in the SF

LA (No 3 seed): Beat Roddick in final but highest ranked player beyond that was Fish at 43. And I watched this final and Roddick served well below his usual standard cause he was struggling with his shoulder. If anyone else of note had been playing Roddick wouldn't even have made the final! Oh, and he had a bye here so only had to win 4 matches.

Kizbuhel (Ranked 7 seed): Highest ranked player he beat wasn't even in top 50! Hanescu at 59.

Stuttgart (unseeded): Here was probably his greatest achievement beating Gasquet in the final and Kohlschreiber in the Q's although beating Gasquet on clay is probably the easiest place to beat him! And it was the week after Wimbledon, where he'd lost in R2.
"

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Gasquet's a much better player on a clay court than he is on a hard court.

He hasn't looked that impressive so far (but then, no-one has, other than Davydenko and Nalbandian), but Simon should be a good test for him, and the match will be on his racket.

Think he's maybe next year or the year after he'll be a contender in the Slams, but he could well be top 10 by the end of the year if he finishes it well

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

Simon was very disappointing but did keep JMDP on court for 5 sets. Simon lacked the intelligence to move JMDP around the court when he looked exhausted after the second set tiebreak. Simon played an abysmal third set losing it 6-1 to an opponent who was taking at least 30 secs between points (I was switching between the courts and I'd come back and he was just about to serve!). Simon then came back to take the fourth but only 43% of first serves in play during the final set and even an exhausted Del Potro could finish him off despite allowing Simon to break back midway through the set.

As for Del Potro, he is a fantastic ball striker so the real test will be against players who can vary their spins, keep the ball low, get the ball deep on the return, maybe ask him to chase a few drop shots; basically take him out of him comfort zone and then see how he does.

If you simply aim to get the ball back and hope that he misses then I don't think that's going to be enough. Simon tried this and ended up losing a match that he could have won.

If JMDP plays Andy then I think Murray's superior fitness would give him the edge in the fourth and fifth sets.

StevoTG · Improver

A bit late I know, but I thought I'd reply anyway. Del Potro is very good. If he stays fit I expect him to be in the top 20 for quite a lot of weeks over his career.