Juan Martín del Potro (; born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), in August 2018. Del Potro won 22 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including a major at the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal and the five-time defending champion Roger Federer en route. Del Potro's other career highlights include storming to the 2018 US Open final, winning an Olympic silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, winning Indian Wells in 2018, and leading Argentina to the 2016 Davis Cup title. Notably, his career was hampered by a succession of wrist and knee injuries.
Del Potro first quietly entered the top 10 of the ATP rankings on 6 October 2008. With his US Open win, he became the only man outside the Big Three (Nadal, Federer, and Novak Djokovic) to win a major between the 2005 French Open and the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, a span of 30 tournaments. In January 2010, he reached a then-career-high ranking of world No. 4, after which he withdrew from most of the season due to an injury to his right wrist. In 2016, del Potro led Argentina to its first Davis Cup title by defeating Croatia's Marin Čilić in the final from two sets down. He then reached his first major semifinal in four years by defeating Federer in 4 sets in the quarterfinals of the 2017 US Open. In 2018, he won his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, defeating the defending champion and world No. 1 Federer in the final. After reaching the semifinals of the 2018 French Open, he matched his career-high ranking of No. 4, and in August 2018 he reached the world No. 3 ranking for the first time. At the 2018 US Open, he reached his second major final, where he lost to Djokovic. Del Potro did not play between June 2019 and February 2022 because of pain from a knee injury, formally retiring in 2024 after a farewell exhibition match against Djokovic.
Early life Juan Martín del Potro was born in Tandil, Argentina. His father, Daniel del Potro (1957–2021), played rugby union in Argentina and was a veterinarian. His mother, Patricia Lucas, is a teacher, and he has a younger sister named Julieta. He also had an elder sister, who died in a car accident when she was eight years old. Del Potro speaks Spanish, English and some Italian.
Aside from tennis, he enjoys playing association football and supports the Boca Juniors team in Argentina and Juventus in Italy. He would often dedicate time to both sports during his youth, and Argentine-Italian international footballer Mauro Camoranesi, who grew up in the same town, remains a close friend of del Potro.
Del Potro began playing tennis at the age of seven with coach Marcelo Gómez (who also coached Tandil-born players Juan Mónaco, Mariano Zabaleta and Máximo González). Del Potro's talent was discovered by Italian ex-tennis professional Ugo Colombini, who accompanied him through the initial phases of his young career, and is still today his agent and close friend. When questioned in 2007 about his ambitions in tennis he replied, "I dream of winning a Grand Slam and the Davis Cup." Despite refusing to participate in the Davis Cup several times, he has since achieved both goals.
Tennis career
Junior years Del Potro played his first junior match in April 2003 at the age of 14 at a Grade-2 tournament in Italy. As a junior in 2002, del Potro won the Orange Bowl 14s title, beating Marin Čilić en route to a victory over Pavel Tchekov in the final. In 2003, at the age of 14, del Potro received wildcards to three ITF Circuit events in Argentina, where he lost in straight sets in the first round of each.
As a junior, del Potro reached as high as No. 3 in the combined ITF junior world rankings, in January 2005.
2004–2005: Early career In May 2004, del Potro won his first senior match, at the age of 15, at the ITF Circuit event in Buenos Aires by defeating Matias Niemiz. He then went on to lose in three sets to Sebastián Decoud in the second round. Del Potro saw his world ranking rise from No. 1441 in August to No. 1077 in November. He also reached the finals in the Argentina Cup and Campionati Internazionali D'Italia Junior tournaments.
Del Potro reached his first final of the ITF Junior Circuit on 11 January 2005, the "Copa del Cafe (Coffee Bowl)" Junior ITF Tournament in Costa Rica, where he lost to Robin Haase in three sets. Because of the rain delays, the final set had to be played indoors; the first time the indoor courts had been used in the 44-year history of the youth tournament.
At the age of 16, del Potro reached his first senior singles final at the Futures tournament in Berimbau Naucalpan, Mexico, where he lost to Darko Mađarovski. He then went on to win consecutive titles at two Future ITF Circuit events in Santiago, Chile, including the 26th International Junior tournament. In the first tournament, he beat Jorge Aguilar, and in the second, he did not drop a set in the whole tournament and defeated Thiago Alves in the final, a player ranked more than 400 places higher at the time. He won his third title in his home country by defeating Damián Patriarca, who forfeited the match, at the ITF Circuit event in Buenos Aires.
Del Potro turned professional in June 2005 and in his first professional tournament, the Lines Trophy Challenger tournament in Reggio Emilia, he reached the semifinals, where he lost to countryman Martín Vassallo Argüello in three sets. Two tournaments later, he reached the final of the Credicard Citi MasterCard Tennis Cup in Campos do Jordão, Brazil where he lost to André Sá in straight sets. After turning 17, he won the Montevideo Challenger by defeating Boris Pašanski in the final in three sets. That same year, he failed in his first attempt to qualify for his first major, at the US Open, losing in the first round to Paraguayan Ramón Delgado. Throughout 2005, del Potro jumped over 900 positions to finish with a world ranking of No. 157, largely due to winning three Futures tournaments. He was the youngest player to finish in the year-end top 200.
2006: Top 100 In February, del Potro played his first ATP Tour event in Viña del Mar, where he defeated Albert Portas, before losing to Fernando González in the second round. Later, seeded seventh, he won the Copa Club Campestre de Aguascalientes by defeating the likes of Dick Norman and Thiago Alves, before beating Sergio Roitman in the final.
Del Potro qualified for the main draw of his first major in the 2006 French Open at the age of 17. He lost in the opening round to former French Open champion and 24th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero. Having received a wildcard, he reached the quarterfinals of the ATP event in Umag, Croatia, where he lost in three sets to the eventual champion, Stanislas Wawrinka. In Spain, he participated in the Open Castilla y León Challenger tournament held in Segovia, defeating top seed Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals and Benjamin Becker in the final.
Del Potro qualified for his first US Open in 2006, where he lost in the first round to fellow qualifier Alejandro Falla of Colombia in four sets. He qualified for his first ATP Masters Series tournament in Spain, the Madrid Open, where he lost in the first round to Joachim Johansson. After receiving a wild card thanks to Roger Federer, he reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 Swiss Indoors in Basel, defeating lucky loser Tobias Clemens in the first round and George Bastl in the second round, before losing to the eventual runner-up Fernando González in three sets. Del Potro finished 2006 as the youngest player in the top 100, aged 18 years, 2 months.
2007: Top 50, first doubles title
Del Potro began the year by reaching his first semifinal in ATP Adelaide, Australia, where he lost to Chris Guccione, having beaten Igor Kunitsyn earlier in the day. He then reached the second round of the Australian Open, where he had to retire because of injury in his match against eventual finalist Fernando González in the fifth set. In February, del Potro played for Argentina in the first round of the Davis Cup against Austria, winning the fourth and deciding match against Jürgen Melzer in five sets, allowing Argentina to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Del Potro defeated Feliciano López before losing to eventual semifinalist Mardy Fish in the second round of the indoor Regions Morgan Keegan Championships. In his next ATP Masters event, he reached the second round of the Pacific Life Open, beating Gustavo Kuerten in the first round, but then losing to Richard Gasquet. Del Potro went further in the Miami Open, reaching the fourth round, after he defeated three top-50 players: Jonas Björkman, Marcos Baghdatis, and Mikhail Youzhny, before falling to Rafael Nadal in two sets. In May, he lost in the first round of the French Open to eventual champion Nadal.
In his first grass-court event, del Potro beat Thomas Johansson and lost to Nadal in the second round at the Queen's Club. He also reached the quarterfinals in Nottingham the following week; there he beat British qualifier Jamie Baker and Kunitsyn, but lost to Ivo Karlović in the quarterfinals. At his inaugural Wimbledon Championships, he defeated Davide Sanguinetti, before losing to eventual champion Roger Federer in the second round.
Del Potro lost to Frank Dancevic in three sets in the second round of the singles at the ATP event in Indianapolis. At the same event, partnered with Travis Parrott in doubles, he won his first doubles tournament, defeating Teymuraz Gabashvili and Karlović in the final. He regards this as a special victory, "It was fantastic to play doubles with Parrott. I'm so happy because I've never won a doubles tournament. For the rest of my life, I will remember this tournament." Del Potro qualified for the ATP Masters Series event in Cincinnati, where he reached the third round. He defeated countryman Guillermo Cañas in the first round and Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second, before losing to former world No. 1, Carlos Moyá. At that year's US Open, he defeated Nicolas Mahut and Melzer, before losing to eventual finalist and third seed Novak Djokovic in the third round. He also reached the third round of the Madrid Masters by beating Potito Starace and Tommy Robredo, before losing to eventual champion David Nalbandian, in straight sets. In the last tournament of the year, the Paris Masters, he reached the second round, where he lost to Nikolay Davydenko. That year, del Potro was the youngest player to finish in the year-end top 50 at 19 years, 2 months.
2008: First titles, Davis Cup final, top 10
Del Potro's first half of the season was hampered by injuries and a change of coach, starting with a first-round loss in Adelaide, where he was the seventh seed. At the Australian Open in January, he retired against David Ferrer in round two due to an injury. Del Potro returned to the circuit in March, winning his first match against Jesse Levine at the Miami Open, before losing in the second round to López. Struggling with injuries, his ranking fell as low as no. 81 in April. "At the start of the year, I was playing good, but I had many injuries, many problems with my body, with my physique", said del Potro. "I changed my coach, changed my physical trainer, I changed everything."