Juan Martin del Potro - Will we see his last match today?
Should Juan Martin del Potro actually resign tonight in Buenos Aires, the Argentine will leave behind many great memories.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Feb 08, 2022, 07:20 am
When Alexander Zvere v these days expresses his displeasure with the final format introduced in 2019 in the most traditional team competition in tennis, he likes to refer to the "real Davis Cup". Well: the Davis Cup has hardly ever been more authentic in recent years than in the final between Croatia and Argentina in Zagreb in 2016. And right in the middle was Juan Martin del Potro, who pulled off an incredible comeback against Marin Cilic with his back against the wall.
Argentina went into the final day 2-1 down, del Potro lost the first two sets against Cilic, things looked extremely bleak for the visitors. Cheered on, among other things, by the best footballer of the last few decades - probably even: of all time - "DelPo" still managed to turn things around. Won a match from a 2-0 set deficit for the first time in his career. And put Diego Maradona and the other fans who had traveled with him into delirium. Of course, this was only enhanced by the fact that Federico Delbonis brought the decisive individual against Ivo Karlovic to the Argentine overall victory into the dry.
Two medals for del Potro at the Olympics
Speaking of Delbonis. He could actually be the one who brings Juan Martin del Potro's career to an end today. Maybe not, even if they lose, del Potro could still play in Rio next week. Not a bad place for him to stop. Not at all. In 2016, the draw for the individual competition at the Olympic Games was extremely modest - from the point of view of del Potro and Novak Djokovic . They had to play against each other in round one. The Argentine won the match against Nole and only lost to Andy Murray in the final.
So the second medal after 2012, when del Potro lost in the semifinals to Roger Federer after an epic on grass, but beat Djokovic again in the bronze match. Also exciting: against the still world's best player, Juan Martin del Potro has a record of 4:16 victories, there will probably be no more meetings. But two of the four successes came at the Olympics.
Djokovic blocks last chance
But it was also Novak Djokovic who rather humorlessly blocked Juan Martin del Potro's last real chance for a second Grand Slam title: in the final of the US Open 2018. There was nothing to be gained for the gentle giant, more likely in the very last Meeting in Rome in 2019 - but Djokovic also had the upper hand in a thrilling match.
So if that was it with today's match against Federico Delbonis: It was a pleasure. Not for everyone involved, ask Dominic Thiem (US Open 2017!) or Marin Cilic. But even that is only related to the bare result. Because in terms of fairness, Juan Martin del Potro has undoubtedly won more than "just" a Grand Slam tournament.