Juan Martín Del Potro
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Juan Martín del Potro (; born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine former professional
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the
Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...
(ATP), in August 2018. Del Potro won 22
ATP Tour The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
-level singles titles, including a
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at the 2009 US Open, where he defeated
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
and the five-time defending champion
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
en route. Del Potro's other career highlights include reaching the 2018 US Open final, winning an Olympic silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and a bronze medal at the
2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, winning Indian Wells in
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, and leading
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
to the 2016 Davis Cup title. Notably, his career was hampered by a succession of wrist and knee injuries. Del Potro first entered the top 10 of the
ATP rankings The PIF ATP Rankings (previously known as the Pepperstone ATP Rankings) are the merit-based method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for determining the qualification for entry as well as the seeding of players in all single ...
on 6 October 2008. With his US Open win, he became the only man outside the Big Three (Nadal, Federer, and
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
) to win a major between the
2005 Australian Open The 2005 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 until 30 January 2005. Roger Federer was unsuccessful in defending his 2004 title, being defeated in the semi-finals by eventual champion Marat Safin ...
and the 2012 US Open, 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 The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
title by defeating Croatia's
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
in the final from two sets down. He then reached his first major semifinal in four years by defeating Federer 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 The 2018 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 27 May to 10 June and consisted of events for players in singles, doubles and m ...
, 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 Tandil is the main city of the homonymous partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823, and its name originates from the '' Piedra M ...
, Argentina. His father, Daniel del Potro (1957–2021), played
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
in Argentina and was a
veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...
. 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 Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...
team in Argentina and
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
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 Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters – Singles, 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Sony ...
,
Mariano Zabaleta Mariano Zabaleta (born 28 February 1978) is a retired professional male tennis player from Argentina. He had an unusual but effective service motion. His best shot was his forehand and his favourite surface was clay. Zabaleta's career highlights ...
and
Máximo González Máximo González Mereira (; born July 20, 1983) is an Argentine professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 58, achieved in July 2009 and his career-high doubles ranking is World No. 10 achieved on 11 September 2023 ...
). 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 The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...
14s title, beating
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
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 Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
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 Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player. He reached his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012 and his highest doubles ranking of world No. 29 in May 2023 ...
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 Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
, 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 Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...
, 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 André Rezende Sá (; born 6 May 1977) is a former Brazilian tennis player. In singles, he was a The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2002 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles, 2002. Sá reached the semifinals of ATP ...
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 Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career, he reached at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major tournaments. He contested hi ...
in the second round. Later, seeded seventh, he won the Copa Club Campestre de Aguascalientes by defeating the likes of
Dick Norman Dick Norman (born 1 March 1971) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. He achieved a degree of folk popularity among tennis fans due to his height (6 feet 8 inches), his left-handed power game and, in the last few years of his ca ...
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 Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Pro ...
. 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 Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved on 27 January 2014. Wawrinka has won 16 ATP T ...
. In Spain, he participated in the Open Castilla y León Challenger tournament held in Segovia, defeating top seed
Fernando Verdasco Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spaniards, Spanish tennis coach and a former professional player. He was ranked world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, achieved in April 2009, and w ...
in the quarterfinals and
Benjamin Becker Benjamin Becker (born 16 June 1981) is a German former professional tennis player. He is most known for defeating former world No. 1 Andre Agassi in the third round at the 2006 US Open, in Agassi's last match as a professional player. 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 Alejandro Falla Ramírez (; born 14 November 1983) is a Colombian former professional tennis player. The left-hander turned professional in 2000 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 in July 2012. At the 2006 Wimbledon tou ...
of Colombia in four sets. He qualified for his first
ATP Masters Series The ATP 1000 events, also known as ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, are an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour since its inception in 1990. The ATP 1000 tournaments, sitting below the Grand ...
tournament in Spain, the Madrid Open, where he lost in the first round to
Joachim Johansson Joachim Johansson (born 1 July 1982) is a former professional male tennis player from Sweden. He reached the semifinals of the 2004 US Open, won 3 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 9 in February 2005. Backg ...
. After receiving a wild card thanks to
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
, he reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 Swiss Indoors in Basel, defeating
lucky loser A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw. This can occur when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness ...
Tobias Clemens in the first round and George Bastl in the second round, before losing to the eventual runner-up
Fernando González Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career, he reached at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major tournaments. He contested hi ...
in three sets. Del Potro finished 2006 as the youngest player in the top 100, aged 18 years, 2 months.


2007: Top 50, Davis Cup quarterfinal

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 The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, 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 The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
against Austria, winning the fourth and deciding match against
Jürgen Melzer Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a youn ...
in five sets, allowing Argentina to qualify for the quarterfinals. Del Potro defeated
Feliciano López Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. ...
before losing to eventual semifinalist
Mardy Fish Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s. Fish won six tournaments on the ...
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 Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (; born 10 September 1976) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the list of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals f ...
in the first round, but then losing to
Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
. Del Potro went further in the Miami Open, reaching the fourth round, after he defeated three top-50 players:
Jonas Björkman Jonas Lars Björkman (; born 23 March 1972) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He is a former world No. 1 in doubles, and also a former world No. 4 in singles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 ...
,
Marcos Baghdatis Marcos Baghdatis (Greek language, Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, Arabic language, Arabic: ماركوس بغداتيس); born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Aus ...
, and
Mikhail Youzhny Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Associ ...
, before falling to
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in two sets. In May, he lost in the first round of the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
to eventual champion Nadal. In his first grass-court event, del Potro beat
Thomas Johansson Karl Thomas Conny Johansson (; born 24 March 1975) is a Swedish former professional tennis player and coach. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 7 singles ranking in May 2002. His career highlights in si ...
and lost to Nadal in the second round at the
Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in Barons Court, West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "HSBC Championships" for spo ...
. He also reached the quarterfinals in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
the following week; there he beat British qualifier Jamie Baker and Kunitsyn, but lost to
Ivo Karlović Ivo Karlović (; born 28 February 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. His height of 211 cm (6 ft 11 in) makes him the joint-tallest ranked tennis player in history (along with Reilly Opelka). He won eight ATP Tour si ...
in the quarterfinals. At his inaugural
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
, he defeated
Davide Sanguinetti Davide Sanguinetti (; born 25 August 1972) is an Italian former professional male tennis player. Personal life Born in Viareggio in Tuscany, he attended the Harry Hopman academy in Florida and then UCLA. He now resides in Monte Carlo. Tennis ...
, before losing to eventual champion Roger Federer in the second round. Del Potro lost to
Frank Dancevic Frank Russell Dancevic ( ; , ; born September 26, 1984) is a retired Canadian professional tennis player. He first became the country's top singles tennis, singles player, according to ATP rankings, on February 10, 2003, as an 18-year-old, and r ...
in three sets in the second round of the singles at the ATP event in
Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
. At the same event, partnered with Travis Parrott in doubles, he won his first doubles tournament, defeating
Teymuraz Gabashvili Teymuraz Besikovich Gabashvili ( rus, Теймураз Бесикович Габашвили, , tɛɪ̯mʊˈraz ɡəbɐˈʂvʲilʲɪ; born 23 May 1985) is a Russian-Georgian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of Wo ...
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 Guillermo "Willy" Ignacio Cañas (; born November 25, 1977) is an Argentine former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked world No. 8 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in June 2005. Cañas wo ...
in the first round and
Philipp Kohlschreiber Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...
in the second, before losing to former world No. 1,
Carlos Moyá Carlos Moyá Llompart (; born 27 August 1976) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Moyá won 20 ATP Tour-level singles tit ...
. At that year's US Open, he defeated
Nicolas Mahut Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at th ...
and Melzer, before losing to eventual finalist and third seed
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
in the third round. He also reached the third round of the Madrid Masters by beating Potito Starace and
Tommy Robredo Tomás Robredo Garcés (, ; born 1 May 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the 2006 Hamburg Masters – Singles, Hamburg M ...
, before losing to eventual champion
David Nalbandian David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached his highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006, during a career that spanned from 2000 to 2013. Nalbandian was runner-up in ...
, in straight sets. In the last tournament of the year, the
Paris Masters The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
, he reached the second round, where he lost to
Nikolay Davydenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( ; born 2 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 in November 2006. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tournam ...
. 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 Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
, where he was the seventh seed. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
in January, he retired against
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...
in round two due to an injury. Del Potro returned to the circuit in March, winning his first match against
Jesse Levine Jesse Levine (born October 15, 1987) is an American-Canadian former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles rank of world No. 69 on October 1, 2012. Levine represented the United States through 2012, and he represented Ca ...
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." In May, del Potro had to retire again, this time in a first-round match against
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
at the
Rome Masters The Italian Open () is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is played on clay courts at the Foro Italico, and is held during the second week of May. The tournament is part of the ATP 1000 events on the ATP Tour and ...
. During the second set, the Argentine allegedly made derogatory comments about Murray's mother which resulted in a complaint to the umpire. Del Potro's serve was subsequently broken three times in a row, and he suffered a back injury, which caused his retirement. In his second major of the year, the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, he was eliminated in the second round by
Simone Bolelli Simone Bolelli (; born 8 October 1985) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP ranking in doubles of World No. 6 achieved on 13 January 2025 and in singles of No. 36 achieved on 23 February 2009. Bolelli is a Grand S ...
in four sets. In June, he reached the semifinals of the Rosmalen Open, losing to eventual winner and top seed
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...
in straight sets. For the second year in a row, he was knocked out of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
in the second round; he beat Pavel Šnobel, but lost to
Stanislas Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved on 27 January 2014. Wawrinka has won 16 ATP T ...
. A successful summer followed for the Argentine. In July, del Potro and his team decided to remain in Europe to test his fitness. "We decided to play on clay courts for my back because if I start to play again on hard courts, maybe I will injure it again", he recalled. Del Potro won his first career ATP Tour title at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, defeating Gasquet in straight sets in the final. A week later, del Potro reached his second career ATP Tour final at the Austrian Open in Kitzbühel, where he beat local hope and sixth seed Melzer in less than an hour, to claim his second title in two weeks. Having competed in just two clay tournaments all of the 2007 season, he never thought he would win his first two titles on clay courts. In August, del Potro won his third consecutive title at the
Los Angeles Open The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually in ...
, beating
Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...
in straight sets in the final. After the match, Roddick praised his opponent. " el Potrohits this way and this way kind of equally and he can hit it from inside out and running to it, which is a good thing for him, bad for the rest of us". A fourth consecutive title followed a week later in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C., where he beat Viktor Troicki, becoming the first player in ATP history to win his first four career titles in consecutive tournaments. "I don't really understand what I did. It is difficult to believe that I have won four consecutive titles", del Potro said, crediting coach Franco Davín for his impressive run. "He changed my game. He changed my mind. He changed everything. When I play and I see him in the stands, it gives me confidence. I can play relaxed." At the 2008 US Open, del Potro won his first match to five sets in the circuit against
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009. Personal li ...
to reach the round of 16. He went on to defeat Japanese teenager
Kei Nishikori is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...
in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, he was stopped by eventual finalist Murray, losing after almost four hours. The defeat came after 23 consecutive victories: the second-longest winning streak in 2008 and the longest winning streak by a player outside the top 10 in the last 20 years. Del Potro was selected to play his first home-based Davis Cup tie, between
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. He beat Davydenko in three sets and also won the fifth and deciding match against
Igor Andreev Igor Valeryevich Andreev (, BGN/PCGN: ''Andreyev'', ISO 9: ''Andreev'', ; born 14 July 1983) is a Russian coach and a former professional tennis player. He won three ATP Tour singles titles, reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 French Open a ...
in straight sets, booking Argentina a place in the final. At the Japan Open, he made the final by defeating 11th seed
Jarkko Nieminen Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his caree ...
, top seed and defending champion Ferrer, and fourth seed
Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
. He was defeated by
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
in the final. At the Madrid Masters, he lost in the quarterfinals in straight sets to
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
. He reached the semifinals of his next tournament, the Swiss Indoors, before losing to countryman Nalbandian. He was beaten by Nalbandian again in his next tournament, in the second round of the
Paris Masters The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
. Del Potro blamed fatigue for his defeat, "It's difficult to play the last tournament of the year. I was tired, my mind was in Argentina he venue for the Davis Cup final. This left del Potro's qualification for the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup out of his hands, but
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
beat James Blake in the semifinals, which was enough to ensure his place at the year-end event. Del Potro won one match at the Masters Cup, against Tsonga, but lost his other two matches against the higher-ranked Djokovic and Davydenko, meaning that he exited the tournament in the round-robin stage. He went on to lose one match in the Davis Cup final, against López, as his team succumbed to a 3–1 loss against
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. He withdrew from his second match due to a thigh injury and was replaced by
José Acasuso José Javier "Chucho" Acasuso (; born 20 October 1982) is a tennis coach and a former professional player from Argentina. Like many of his fellow countrymen, he favoured clay. He was known for his strong serve and his hard groundstrokes off bot ...
. Nonetheless, del Potro enjoyed a successful season; winning four titles and finishing 2008 as the youngest player in the top 10, top-ranked Argentine, and highest-ranked South American.


2009: US Open champion, ATP Tour Finals final, top 5

Del Potro began his 2009 season at the Auckland Open in New Zealand as the top seed. He defeated American
Sam Querrey Samuel Austin Querrey ( ; born October 7, 1987) is an American professional pickleball player and former tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known ...
in the final to win the title, the fifth of his career. Seeded eighth at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, he beat
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
in the fourth round before losing in straight sets to Federer. At Indian Wells, del Potro lost in the quarters to world No. 1 Nadal. Del Potro avenged that loss the following week at the Miami Open, where he came back from a double break down in the third set at 0–3 to defeat Nadal in the quarterfinals. This was the first time del Potro had defeated Nadal in five meetings. Despite a loss in the semifinals to Murray, del Potro reached a career-high world ranking of No. 5. In the clay-court season, del Potro was eliminated in the second round of the
Monte Carlo Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters (also known as the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, which borders on Monaco. It is played on clay cour ...
by
Ivan Ljubičić Ivan Ljubičić (; born 19 March 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player, coach and Tennis TV commentator. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 3 singles ranking on 1 May 2006. His career high ...
. In
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, del Potro beat Victor Troicki and Wawrinka to advance to the quarterfinals, where he was defeated by defending champion Djokovic in straight sets. This meant del Potro's head-to-head record with the Serb was now 0–3. At the Madrid Masters, Del Potro beat Murray for the first time in the quarterfinals, but lost to Federer in the semifinals. At the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, where he was fifth seed, del Potro defeated
Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 3 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), winning 26 career doubles titles, including three majors and ...
, Troicki, Andreev, and ninth seed Tsonga en route to the quarterfinals. He then defeated three-time former quarterfinalist
Tommy Robredo Tomás Robredo Garcés (, ; born 1 May 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the 2006 Hamburg Masters – Singles, Hamburg M ...
to get to his first semifinal of a Grand Slam. He was defeated in a close semifinal, where he was leading by a set twice, by eventual champion Federer who, after their match, said: " el Potrois young and strong, I have a lot of respect for him." Prior to this encounter, del Potro had never taken a set from Federer in their five previous career meetings. At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, he lost to unseeded
Lleyton Hewitt Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
in the second round. In the Davis Cup quarterfinal against the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
, del Potro won his matches against
Ivo Minář Ivo Minář (born 21 May 1984) is a former professional male tennis player from the Czech Republic. On 20 July 2009 Minář reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 62. His brother Jan is also a professional player, who has been rank ...
and Berdych in straight sets, but Argentina still lost the tie 2–3. A few weeks later, he defeated Hewitt and
Fernando González Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career, he reached at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major tournaments. He contested hi ...
en route to the Washington final. He successfully defended his title against top-seeded Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick to win his second tournament of the year and become the first player since
Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
to win back-to-back Washington titles. At the Masters 1000 in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, he beat world No. 2 Nadal in the quarterfinals, his second consecutive win over Nadal. He then defeated Roddick in the semifinals, saving a match point, to advance to his first Masters 1000 final, and to improve his head-to-head record against Roddick to 3–0. In the final, he lost against Murray in three sets. He later withdrew from the next Masters 1000 event in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
due to fatigue. Seeded sixth at the US Open, del Potro began by defeating
Juan Mónaco Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters – Singles, 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Sony ...
and
Jürgen Melzer Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a youn ...
in straight sets, before dropping a set but defeating Köllerer to reach the fourth round. He defeated a resurgent Juan Carlos Ferrero to advance to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. Del Potro then advanced to the semifinals by defeating
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
. Del Potro was down a set and a break, before winning 17 of the final 20 games to win the match. His advance to the semifinals ensured his return to the top 5 in the rankings. He then crushed world No. 3 and reigning Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, to reach his first Grand Slam final. This was his third consecutive victory over Nadal and made him the first Argentine to reach a Grand Slam singles final since
Mariano Puerta Mariano Rubén Puerta (; born 19 September 1978) is an Argentine tennis coach and former professional player. He reached a career-high ATP world No. 9 singles ranking in August 2005. His career highlight is reaching the final of the French O ...
at the 2005 French Open. In the final, del Potro rallied from a set and a break down to defeat world No. 1 and five-time defending champion
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in five sets; his first victory over Federer after six previous defeats, and Federer's first loss in the US Open since 2003. Del Potro stated, "Since wasyoung, I dream with this and take trophy with me", said del Potro, who became the first Argentine male to win the title since
Guillermo Vilas Guillermo Vilas (; born 17 August 1952) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He was the world No. 1 of the Grand Prix tennis circuit, Grand Prix seasons in 1974, 1975 and 1977. He won 62 singles titles and 16 doubles titles during ...
in 1977. "I did my dream, and it's unbelievable moment. It's amazing match, amazing people. Everything is perfect." After the match, Federer praised del Potro; "I thought he hung in there and gave himself chances and, in the end, was the better man." He became the first player since countryman
David Nalbandian David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached his highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006, during a career that spanned from 2000 to 2013. Nalbandian was runner-up in ...
to defeat Federer at the US Open, and at 198 cm (6 ft 6 in), he is the tallest ever Grand Slam champion, a record he now shares with
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
, the 2014 US Open winner, and
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
champion
Daniil Medvedev Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev ( rus, Даниил Сергеевич Медведев, p=dənʲɪˈil sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ...
. Besides Nadal and Djokovic, del Potro is the only player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam final, and the first player to defeat both Nadal and Federer in the same Grand Slam tournament. Dick Enberg hosted the post-match ceremony, during which a victorious del Potro requested to address his fans in Spanish. Enberg declined the request, saying that he was running out of time, but went on to list the corporate sponsored prizes del Potro won. A couple of minutes later, del Potro made the same request again, and only then did Enberg relent saying, "Very quickly, in Spanish, he wants to say hello to his friends here and in Argentina." An emotional del Potro finally spoke a few sentences in Spanish to a cheering crowd. Many viewers expressed disappointment with Enberg and broadcaster
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
over the interview. A CBS executive later defended Enberg, noting that the contract with the
United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tenn ...
required that certain sponsors receive time during the ceremony. On return to his hometown Tandil, del Potro was greeted by an estimated 40,000 people. In his first match since the US Open, del Potro was upset by world No. 189,
Édouard Roger-Vasselin Édouard Roger-Vasselin (; born 28 November 1983) is a French professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He won two Grand Slam titles in doubles at the 2014 French Open, partnering Julien Benneteau, and mixed doubles at the 2024 ...
, in straight sets at the Japan Open in Tokyo. He then lost his second straight match to Melzer in the second round at the Masters 1000 event in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, retiring while trailing in the second set. This retirement caused concerns over the length of the tennis season. He had to retire again in the
Paris Masters The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
quarterfinals when down 0–4 to
Radek Štěpánek Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
due to an abdominal injury. At the ATP World Tour Finals in November, he lost his first round-robin match against Andy Murray, but he beat
Fernando Verdasco Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spaniards, Spanish tennis coach and a former professional player. He was ranked world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, achieved in April 2009, and w ...
in his second match to keep his hopes alive. After defeating
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in the following match, he qualified for the semifinals, ousting Murray by one game, the slimmest possible margin. He defeated
Robin Söderling Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
in the semifinals, before losing to Nikolay Davydenko in the final. Del Potro finished 2009 as the youngest player in the top 10, top-ranked Argentine, and highest-ranked South American for the second consecutive year.


2010: First wrist injury, out of top 250

Del Potro started his 2010 season at the AAMI Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, Australia, with a win over Croatian world No. 24
Ivan Ljubičić Ivan Ljubičić (; born 19 March 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player, coach and Tennis TV commentator. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 3 singles ranking on 1 May 2006. His career high ...
. On 11 January, he moved up to a career high world No. 4. He was scheduled to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on day 2 of the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament, but withdrew due to a wrist injury. He came into the 2010 Australian Open with the injury not healed, and took a month off after the event, where he lost in the fourth round to
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
. Following the Australian Open loss, del Potro missed several tournaments, including the Masters tournaments at Indian Wells and
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, which were touted as potential return dates, due to the persistent wrist injury. Even though he withdrew from the
Monte-Carlo Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters (also known as the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, which borders on Monaco. It is played on clay cour ...
, he regained the world No. 4 ranking, due to Murray's early exit in the second round. He then withdrew from
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and the
Rome Masters The Italian Open () is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is played on clay courts at the Foro Italico, and is held during the second week of May. The tournament is part of the ATP 1000 events on the ATP Tour and ...
. On 4 May, del Potro took the option of having an operation to fix the injury. On 19 May, del Potro said he would not defend his US Open title, but if all went well, he would appear after the event, targeting the Paris Masters as a possible comeback. However, on 22 July, the USTA stated that del Potro was expected to defend his US Open crown. The player himself confirmed that his comeback to the tour would be the Thailand Open and said nothing about the New York event. On 2 August, del Potro returned to the practice courts. A week before the start of the US Open, after practicing for two weeks, del Potro withdrew from the event, for he felt he was not ready to compete at the highest level. After the nine-month break, del Potro confirmed that he would make his return at the Thailand Open. In his return match, he lost in the first round in two sets to
Olivier Rochus Olivier Rochus (; born 18 January 1981) is a former Belgian tennis player. Rochus won two singles titles in his career and in 2004 won the French Open doubles title, partnering fellow Belgian Xavier Malisse. His career-high singles ranking is wo ...
, despite serving 16 aces. He then also played at the Japan Open, but again lost in the opening round, this time to
Feliciano López Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. ...
.


2011: Return to tour, second Davis Cup final

Del Potro began his 2011 season at the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
as a wildcard entry. In the second round, del Potro was defeated by
Florian Mayer Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP Tour title after four previous defeats in AT ...
of Germany in straight sets, despite winning against sixth seed
Feliciano López Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. ...
in three sets in the first round. His next tournament would be the first Grand Slam of the year at the 2011 Australian Open, where del Potro was defeated by 21st seed
Marcos Baghdatis Marcos Baghdatis (Greek language, Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, Arabic language, Arabic: ماركوس بغداتيس); born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Aus ...
in the second round. As a result, del Potro slipped further down the rankings to No. 485. After the Australian Open, he participated in the San Jose Open where he was accepted into the main draw via a
protected ranking This page is a glossary of tennis terminology. A * Ace (tennis), Ace: Serve where the tennis ball lands inside the ''#service box, service box'' and is not touched by the receiver; thus, a shot that is both a serve and a winner is an ace. Aces a ...
(PR). He reached the semifinals without dropping a set, however he lost to top seed Fernando Verdasco, in straight sets. Del Potro's next scheduled tournament was the U.S. National Indoor Championships, where he was accepted into the main draw via a wildcard, losing to top seed and eventual champion
Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...
. Del Potro entered the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships on a wildcard. He defeated
Ričardas Berankis Ričardas Berankis (; born June 21, 1990) is a Lithuanian professional tennis player. He is the first and only Lithuanian to enter the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP top 50 rankings, making him the highest ranked Lithuanian tennis play ...
,
Teymuraz Gabashvili Teymuraz Besikovich Gabashvili ( rus, Теймураз Бесикович Габашвили, , tɛɪ̯mʊˈraz ɡəbɐˈʂvʲilʲɪ; born 23 May 1985) is a Russian-Georgian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of Wo ...
, Kevin Anderson and second-seeded
Mardy Fish Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s. Fish won six tournaments on the ...
, to advance to his first ATP final since the 2009 World Tour Finals. In the final, he defeated an erratic Janko Tipsarević in two sets. Del Potro's next tournament was the ATP Masters at the Indian Wells Masters. He reached the semifinals, where he lost to top-seeded
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in straight sets. At the Miami Masters he defeated world No. 4,
Robin Söderling Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
, in straight sets in round three, before losing to eventual semifinalist
Mardy Fish Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s. Fish won six tournaments on the ...
in straight sets in round four. In Estoril Open del Potro defeated top-seeded
Robin Söderling Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
, two time French Open finalist, and dropped just one set in his five matches and took the title against Fernando Verdasco in the final. After suffering an 8-millimeter tear in his left
rectus abdominis The rectus abdominis muscle, () also known as the "abdominal muscle" or simply better known as the "abs", is a pair of segmented skeletal muscle on the ventral aspect of a person, person's abdomen. The paired muscle is separated at the midline b ...
, del Potro withdrew from Madrid Open and did not participate in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, but confirmed that he would play the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. There he lost in the third round in four sets to second-seeded Novak Djokovic. Del Potro reached the fourth round at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
for the first time by defeating Flavio Cipolla,
Olivier Rochus Olivier Rochus (; born 18 January 1981) is a former Belgian tennis player. Rochus won two singles titles in his career and in 2004 won the French Open doubles title, partnering fellow Belgian Xavier Malisse. His career-high singles ranking is wo ...
, and
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009. Personal li ...
but lost in four sets to world No. 1, Rafael Nadal, a match described by The Guardian as the "battle of walking wounded". Del Potro returned to the top 20 at world No. 19 for the first time in nearly a year. His next tournament was the
Los Angeles Open The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually in ...
in late July, where he received a first-round bye as the second seed. He defeated James Blake but lost to
Ernests Gulbis Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988) is a Latvian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 10, making him the only male Latvian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10, a feat achieved in June 20 ...
in the quarterfinals. At the Canada Masters, del Potro defeated
Jarkko Nieminen Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his caree ...
before losing to Marin Čilić in the second round. At the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
tournament, del Potro lost to Roger Federer, snapping the two-match winning streak he had against his rival. Del Potro entered the 2011 US Open seeded 18th. He beat
Filippo Volandri Filippo Volandri (; born 5 September 1981) is an Italian tennis coach and former professional player. Volandri reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 25 in July 2007. He turned professional in 1997 and earned almost $4 million in priz ...
and
Diego Junqueira Diego Junqueira (; born December 28, 1980) is a tennis coach and former professional player from Argentina. He plays left-handed with a double-handed backhand and his highest singles rank was world no.68, achieved on March 9, 2009. Junior career ...
before losing to
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009. Personal li ...
in the third round. After the US Open, del Potro played in the
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
semifinal against Serbia, winning both of his rubbers against Janko Tipsarević and world No. 1, Novak Djokovic. This helped Argentina to a 3–2 victory over Serbia, booking their place in the final. In October he lost in the second round of
Stockholm Open Stockholm Open (SO) is an annual tennis tournament in Sweden that is part of the ATP Tour's 250 Series. The tournament features both men's singles and doubles events and is organized by the Royal Lawn Tennis Club (KLTK), Stockholms Allmä ...
to James Blake. He then reached the final in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, losing for the first time to Tsonga. Del Potro then reached the semifinals of the Valencia Open 500, losing to eventual champion
Marcel Granollers Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the second Spanish man to achieve the feat (after Emilio Sánchez Vicari ...
. He then withdrew from the
Paris Masters The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
due to a shoulder injury, wiping out his chances of qualifying for the year-end championships. Del Potro played in the Davis Cup final in
Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
, losing the second rubber to
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...
, despite being two sets to one up, in a match lasting over five hours. With his country down 2–1, del Potro needed to beat
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in the reverse singles to keep the tie going. Del Potro dominated the first set, but could not keep his level up and lost in four sets. For the third time in six years, Argentina lost in the finals of the Davis Cup World Group, this time 3–1. Del Potro finished the year ranked world No. 11, despite being ranked no. 485 at one stage. He was named 2011 ATP Comeback Player of the Year.


2012: Olympic bronze, back to top 10

Del Potro's first tournament of the year was the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
, where he was the top seed. He made it to the quarterfinals after receiving a bye into the second round. He defeated
Łukasz Kubot Łukasz Kubot (; born 16 May 1982) is a former Polish professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the ...
in the second round. In the quarterfinals, he was beaten by
Marcos Baghdatis Marcos Baghdatis (Greek language, Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, Arabic language, Arabic: ماركوس بغداتيس); born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Aus ...
. In the first round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, del Potro defeated
Adrian Mannarino Adrian Mannarino (born 29 June 1988) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 17, attained on 29 January 2024. He has won five ATP Tour singles titles, three on hardcourt and two on grass. Te ...
in four sets. He reached the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam for the second time, losing to third-seeded Roger Federer in straight sets. At ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, he defeated
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
, reaching his first final of an ATP 500 level tournament or higher after returning from his wrist injury in 2010. He lost to Federer in straight sets in the final. At the Open 13 in Marseille, del Potro defeated Davydenko, Gasquet, Tsonga, and
Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 3 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), winning 26 career doubles titles, including three majors and ...
in the final to win his tenth ATP title. At
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, he lost in the semis to Federer again in two tiebreaks. Del Potro lost in the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Open to Federer for the fourth time that year. He made it to the fourth round of the Miami Open, but lost to David Ferrer in two sets. Del Potro started his clay-court campaign of 2012 in the Davis Cup quarterfinals against Croatia. He won his first rubber against
Ivo Karlović Ivo Karlović (; born 28 February 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. His height of 211 cm (6 ft 11 in) makes him the joint-tallest ranked tennis player in history (along with Reilly Opelka). He won eight ATP Tour si ...
and then defeated
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
in the reverse singles. At the Estoril Open, he was the defending champion and the top seed. He did not drop a set en route to the final, where he beat Frenchman
Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
in straight sets to collect his 11th ATP title. At Madrid Masters he defeated
Florian Mayer Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP Tour title after four previous defeats in AT ...
,
Mikhail Youzhny Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Associ ...
, Marin Čilić and
Alexandr Dolgopolov Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the qu ...
, but lost in two tiebreaks to
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
in the semifinals. At the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, where he was seeded ninth, Del Potro defeated
Albert Montañés Albert Montañés Roca (, ; born 26 November 1980) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He first entered the top 100 in 2001, achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010, and has won six singles titles and two doubl ...
,
Édouard Roger-Vasselin Édouard Roger-Vasselin (; born 28 November 1983) is a French professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He won two Grand Slam titles in doubles at the 2014 French Open, partnering Julien Benneteau, and mixed doubles at the 2024 ...
, Marin Čilić and seventh seed Tomáš Berdych before losing to Roger Federer in the quarterfinals in five sets, after being up two sets to love. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, del Potro beat
Robin Haase Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player. He reached his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012 and his highest doubles ranking of world No. 29 in May 2023 ...
,
Go Soeda is a former professional Japanese tennis player. He started playing tennis at the age of four and turned professional in April 2003. He has won 18 singles titles on the ATP Challenger Tour, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of w ...
, and
Kei Nishikori is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...
, before losing to David Ferrer in the fourth round. At the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
, also held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, del Potro faced Federer in the semifinals, which resulted in the longest "best of three sets" tennis match by duration in history, lasting four hours and 26 minutes; the final set took two hours and 43 minutes. Del Potro lost the match, by 17–19 in the third set. Less than two hours after this marathon, del Potro took to the tennis court again with
Gisela Dulko Gisela Dulko (; born 30 January 1985) is an Argentine former tennis player. Although she enjoyed modest success in singles, reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 26 and winning four WTA Tour, WTA titles, her speciality was doubles, where s ...
for their quarterfinal mixed doubles match against
Lisa Raymond Lisa Raymond (born August 10, 1973) is an American former professional tennis player who has achieved notable success in doubles tennis. Raymond has eleven major titles to her name: six in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. On June 12, ...
and
Mike Bryan Michael Carl Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all time, Bryan was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's doubles for a record 506 weeks ...
, which they lost. Two days later, del Potro defeated Djokovic in the bronze-medal match. It was del Potro's first victory over Djokovic, excluding a win that occurred in the
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
where Djokovic retired after dropping the first set. Del Potro returned to hard courts to play at the Rogers Cup, where he was upset by 33-year-old world No. 40
Radek Štěpánek Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
. Del Potro ended the illustrious career of American tennis star Andy Roddick, retiring him by winning their fourth round match before going on to lose in the quarterfinals of the US Open against Djokovic. In October, del Potro beat qualifier
Grega Žemlja Grega Žemlja (born 29 September 1986) is a retired Slovenian tennis player. He has won five singles titles and one doubles title on the ATP Challenger Tour. In 2012, he reached the third round of the US Open, the first Slovenian male player eve ...
to win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. He then beat Roger Federer in a third set tie-break to win the Swiss Indoors title, in Basel. The following week, he suffered a third-round loss to
Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 3 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), winning 26 career doubles titles, including three majors and ...
at the BNP Paribas Masters. During the round-robin stage of the ATP World Tour Finals, he won two of his three matches and qualified for the semifinals, where he was defeated by Djokovic in three sets, after leading by a set and a break. He ended the year ranked world No. 7, with a 65–17 win–loss record and four titles captured throughout the season.


2013: Wimbledon semifinal, return to top 5

Del Potro began his season at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, where he was upset in the third round by
Jérémy Chardy Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best major performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 ...
in five sets. The next month, he won the
Rotterdam Open The Rotterdam Open, also known as the ABN AMRO Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional men's tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Indoor courts, indoor hard courts. It is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the ATP Tour and has been held ...
, beating
Gaël Monfils Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in November 2016. Mon ...
, Ernest Gulbis,
Jarkko Nieminen Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his caree ...
,
Grigor Dimitrov Grigor Dimitrov Dimitrov (, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, making him the highest-ranked Bulgari ...
in the semifinals, and
Julien Benneteau Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 25 and doubles ranking of No. 5 in November 2014. Benneteau did not win a singles ti ...
in the final. At Dubai, del Potro beat
Marcos Baghdatis Marcos Baghdatis (Greek language, Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, Arabic language, Arabic: ماركوس بغداتيس); born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Aus ...
, saving three match points,
Somdev Devvarman Somdev Kishore Devvarman (born 13 February 1985) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is known for being one of the few collegiate player to have made three consecutive finals at the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship, NCAA, ...
, and
Daniel Brands Daniel Brands (born 17 July 1987) is a German retired professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 51, achieved in August 2013. Professional career 2008 Brands began 2008 ranked No. 220. After a few unimpressive tou ...
, but lost in the semifinals to eventual winner Novak Djokovic. At Indian Wells in March, del Potro defeated Nikolay Davydenko, Björn Phau, and
Tommy Haas Thomas Mario Haas (; born 3 April 1978) is a German–American former professional tennis player. He competed on the ATP Tour from 1996 to 2017, and was ranked world No. 2 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in May ...
. In the quarterfinals, he beat Andy Murray for the second time in six matches. In the semifinals, he upset top seed and world No. 1 Djokovic, to end the Serb's streak of 22 victories. He then lost in the final to Rafael Nadal in three sets. Del Potro withdrew from most of the clay-court season and from the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
due to a viral infection. On grass, del Potro began at the
Queen's Club Championships The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for men's and women’s tennis, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals, ...
, where he won his first comeback match in three sets against
Xavier Malisse Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a Belgian tennis coach and a former professional player. Born in the north-western Flemish Region, Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed ''X-Man'', he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being David G ...
. He defeated Daniel Evans, only to be upset in the quarterfinals by
Lleyton Hewitt Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, Del Potro won against
Albert Ramos Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mark ...
,
Jesse Levine Jesse Levine (born October 15, 1987) is an American-Canadian former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles rank of world No. 69 on October 1, 2012. Levine represented the United States through 2012, and he represented Ca ...
, and
Grega Žemlja Grega Žemlja (born 29 September 1986) is a retired Slovenian tennis player. He has won five singles titles and one doubles title on the ATP Challenger Tour. In 2012, he reached the third round of the US Open, the first Slovenian male player eve ...
before advancing past the fourth round for the first time in his career, thanks to a win over
Andreas Seppi Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces. Personal lif ...
. He then played David Ferrer and, despite slipping badly during the fifth point of the match and aggravating a pre-existing leg injury, requiring over five minutes of treatment and by his own admission being close to forfeiting the match, he recovered to defeat Ferrer in straight sets to advance to his first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2009 US Open without dropping a set. On 5 July, Djokovic defeated him in five sets in 4 hours and 44 minutes, making it at that point the longest semifinal in the history of Wimbledon men's singles. Del Potro won the Washington Open, beating
Ryan Harrison Ryan Harrison (born May 7, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. Harrison won one career Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP title in singles at the 2017 Memphis Open to go along with four in doubles, including the 2017 F ...
,
Bernard Tomic Bernard Tomic (; , ; born 21 October 1992) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 17 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Tomic has won four singles titles on the ATP To ...
, Kevin Anderson, Tommy Haas in the semifinals and
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
in the final in three sets. Before the final he didn't drop a set. This was his third title at the event and his second of the year. Del Potro reached the semifinals of
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
where he again faced Isner and lost the match in three sets. Del Potro got to the second round of the US Open, after a four-set victory against
Guillermo García-López Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People * Guillermo Amador (born 1974), American musician * Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Span ...
, only to be upset by Lleyton Hewitt in five sets. At the Japan Open, Del Potro, who entered the tournament on a wildcard, beat Marcos Baghdatis, Carlos Berlocq,
Alexandr Dolgopolov Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the qu ...
, Nicolas Almagro and
Milos Raonic Milos Raonic ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP ...
in two sets to win his third title of the year. In October, Del Potro reached the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, defeating
Philipp Kohlschreiber Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...
, Tommy Haas, Nicolás Almagro, and Rafael Nadal (for the first time since the semifinals of the 2009 US Open) en route, but eventually losing to defending champion Djokovic in a third-set tiebreak. In late October he beat sixth-seeded Roger Federer in three sets in the final of the Swiss Indoors, his fourth title of the year. However, he lost to Federer in the quarterfinals of the
Paris Masters The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
and in a winner-take-all, round-robin clash in the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 arena in London. He finished the year with a 51–16 record, winning four titles overall and prize money of $4,294,039. Del Potro was named Argentina's Sportsman of the Year.


2014–2015: Second wrist injury, two years away from tour

Del Potro began his
2014 ATP World Tour The 2014 ATP World Tour was the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2014 tennis season. The 2014 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
season at the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
as the top seed, winning the final of the tournament against defending champion
Bernard Tomic Bernard Tomic (; , ; born 21 October 1992) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 17 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Tomic has won four singles titles on the ATP To ...
in only 53 minutes. It was his fifth title as top seed. When asked to play for Argentina in the Davis Cup, del Potro declined, arguing problems with the press and the team, and his decision to prioritize his personal career. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, he won his opening match against
Rhyne Williams Robert Rhyne Williams (born March 22, 1991) is a former American tennis player and current tennis coach. He played his last ATP match in 2018, and is coaching fellow collegiate player Dominik Koepfer, and Zachary Svajda. Williams first playe ...
, but lost to
Roberto Bautista-Agut Roberto Bautista Agut (; born 14 April 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 by the ATP in singles, achieved on 4 November 2019. Bautista Agut has won twelve ATP singles titles out of twenty ...
in the second round, having led two sets to one. Despite his second-round loss, del Potro returned to being world No. 4. After the Australian Open, del Potro required treatment for his left wrist, which had been giving him trouble since 2012. In February, at the 2014 Rotterdam Open, he eased past
Gaël Monfils Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in November 2016. Mon ...
and
Paul-Henri Mathieu Paul-Henri Mathieu (; born 12 January 1982) is a French former professional tennis player. He won four singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best singles performance in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was reaching the semifinals of the 2 ...
in straight sets, but fell to Latvian
Ernests Gulbis Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988) is a Latvian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 10, making him the only male Latvian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10, a feat achieved in June 20 ...
in the quarterfinals. In the 2014 Dubai Tennis Championships, he retired against
Somdev Devvarman Somdev Kishore Devvarman (born 13 February 1985) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is known for being one of the few collegiate player to have made three consecutive finals at the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship, NCAA, ...
after losing the first set due to his wrist injury and said "It was really tough to play today. I tried everything. I cannot be the player I would like to be.". The same injury led to his subsequent withdrawal from Masters 1000 series events in Indian Wells and
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, meaning that del Potro dropped to world No. 8. Del Potro underwent surgery in March 2014 to repair the problem in his left wrist, missing the rest of the 2014 season. Del Potro began his
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
season with wrist pain and was not sure whether he would play Sydney and the
2015 Australian Open The 2015 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park from 19 January to 1 February 2015. It was the 103rd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Stan Wawrinka was the de ...
. However, at the last minute he decided to play both tournaments. He had not played a tournament since February 2014, but he started the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
with a straight-sets win against
Sergiy Stakhovsky Sergiy Eduardovych Stakhovsky (, ; born January 6, 1986) is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and played mostly at the Challenger level from 2005 to 2008. His career-high rankings were World No ...
. In the second round he defeated world No. 19 and top seed
Fabio Fognini Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. Fognini's most successful surface is Clay court#Red clay, ...
to reach the quarterfinals, which he lost to
Mikhail Kukushkin Mikhail Aleksandrovich Kukushkin (; born 26 December 1987) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 39, achieved on 25 February 2019. Career 2006–10: Turned pro, Masters ...
in two tiebreakers. Del Potro withdrew from the
2015 Australian Open The 2015 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park from 19 January to 1 February 2015. It was the 103rd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Stan Wawrinka was the de ...
, due to his wrist injury, the day before his first match and had another surgery on his left wrist. In late March Del Potro played in the Miami Open with a protected ranking and lost his first-round match to
Vasek Pospisil Vasek Pospisil ( ; , ; known in born June 23, 1990) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Pospisil has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 25, and No. 4 in doubles. Along with partner Jack Sock, he won the 2014 Wimbledon Champi ...
. It would be his last match of the year, undergoing wrist surgery again in June 2015.


2016: Comeback, Olympic silver, Davis Cup champion

He played his first tournament since undergoing surgery at the Delray Beach Open in mid February. In his first competitive match in almost a year, del Potro defeated Denis Kudla in two sets. He followed this up with a straight sets win over Australian
John-Patrick Smith John-Patrick Tracey "JP" Smith (born 24 January 1989) is an Australian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking of world No. 108 on 28 September 2015, and his highest doubles ranking of N ...
. He defeated
Jérémy Chardy Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best major performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 ...
in two sets in the quarterfinal, reaching his first semifinal since 2014; which he lost to eventual champion
Sam Querrey Samuel Austin Querrey ( ; born October 7, 1987) is an American professional pickleball player and former tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known ...
. At Indian Wells, he beat
Tim Smyczek Timothy Allen Salazar Smyczek ( ; ; born December 30, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He made three quarterfinals on the main tour as well as the semi-finals of Newport in 2018. Additionally he won seven Challenger title ...
in two sets. He lost in the next round to Tomas Berdych in straight sets. At Miami Open he beat
Guido Pella Guido Pella (; born 17 May 1990) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. In August 2019, Pella reached his career best world No. 20 in singles. In July 2019, he peaked at No. 55 in doubles. Personal life His father, Carlos, taught hi ...
in two sets and was set to play Roger Federer for the first time in more than two years, but just hours before the match Federer withdrew due to a stomach virus. Instead he played lucky loser and countryman
Horacio Zeballos Horacio Zeballos Jr. (, ; born 27 April 1985) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the first Argentinian man to achieve the feat. He is a Grand Slam champion ...
and lost in straight sets. Del Potro then competed in his first clay-court tournament since 2013 at the BMW Open in Munich in late April. He beat Dustin Brown, in two sets and Jan-Lennard Struff in his first three-set match of the year but lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals in straight sets. At Madrid Open he had his best victory after coming back on the tour, defeating 14th seed
Dominic Thiem Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in March 2020. Thiem won 17 ATP Tour-level s ...
in straight sets but lost his next match to
Jack Sock Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American former professional tennis doubles and a current pickleball player. He won four career singles titles and 17 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, and had career-high tennis rankings of world No. 8 ...
in two sets. At Stuttgart Open, his first grass tournament since the
2013 Wimbledon Championships The 2013 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 127th edition of the The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon C ...
, he beat Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets, John Millman in two sets and
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009. Personal li ...
in three sets, before losing to Kohlschreiber in straight sets in the semis. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
he beat Stephane Robert and
Stanislas Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved on 27 January 2014. Wawrinka has won 16 ATP T ...
(in four sets). Del Potro then lost in an ill-tempered four-set match against 32nd seed
Lucas Pouille Lucas Pouille (, born 23 February 1994) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. ...
in the third round. In the 2016 Olympic Games, held at the Olympic Tennis Centre in Rio de Janeiro, del Potro defeated top seed and world No. 1, Novak Djokovic, in the first round, winning two tiebreaks. It was a significant win for him because he was ranked no. 145 in the world and was coming back from an injury. He also defeated
João Sousa João Pedro Coelho Marinho de Sousa (born 30 March 1989), known as João Sousa (), is a Portuguese former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of No. 28 on 16 May 2016 a ...
,
Taro Daniel is an American-Japanese professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 58 on 15 January 2024. He has won one ATP Tour singles title at the 2018 Istanbul Open, as well as nine ATP Challenger Tour singles ti ...
in three sets and top-20 player Bautista Agut to guarantee a medal match. He played 2008 gold medalist and the 2016 doubles gold medalist, Rafael Nadal. He defeated him in three tight sets to guarantee a medal. Del Potro played in his first gold medal match against the reigning Wimbledon champion from the previous month, Andy Murray and lost in four grueling sets in over four hours. However, del Potro said after beating Nadal "I already won silver, that's good enough for me." At the US Open Del Potro's ranking of No. 141 was not sufficient to gain direct entry into the main draw but he was granted a wild card. He beat countryman
Diego Schwartzman Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist ...
in straight sets, 19th seed and top-ranked American Steve Johnson in straight sets, 11th seed and Grand Slam finalist David Ferrer in straight sets and eighth seed Dominic Thiem (when Thiem retired during the second set). Del Potro then lost to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals in four sets. Del Potro then played against Murray, in a rematch of the Olympic final, in the
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
semifinal, held in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. Del Potro won the thrilling five-set match in 5 hours and 7 minutes. Del Potro was granted a wildcard for the Shanghai Masters in October, where he lost in the first round in three sets to 11th seed
David Goffin David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 7, making him the highest ranked male player from Belgium in tennis history. He is also the first ...
, despite being a set and a break up. Del Potro was given a wild card into the
Stockholm Open Stockholm Open (SO) is an annual tennis tournament in Sweden that is part of the ATP Tour's 250 Series. The tournament features both men's singles and doubles events and is organized by the Royal Lawn Tennis Club (KLTK), Stockholms Allmä ...
and beat John Isner, Nicolas Almagro,
Ivo Karlovic Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages. The name used in western European languages originates as a Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves is a variant of it. The unrelated So ...
, Grigor Dimitrov and Jack Sock to win his first title since his return from injury. Del Potro then played at the Swiss Indoors, where he comfortably beat qualifier
Robin Haase Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player. He reached his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012 and his highest doubles ranking of world No. 29 in May 2023 ...
in the first round. He then got revenge on Goffin in a straight sets win, before falling in two tight sets to
Kei Nishikori is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...
in the quarterfinals. Vying for Argentina's first title, del Potro played in the 2016 Davis Cup against Croatia. His first match was a four set victory against Ivo Karlović. Partnering Leonardo Mayer, del Potro lost in doubles against
Ivan Dodig Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of World No. 2 in September 2023. He is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's double ...
and Marin Čilić. 2–1 down in matches, del Potro played in singles against Čilić, coming back from two sets down for the first time in his career to win in five sets. Described as one of the best Davis Cup comebacks ever, del Potro levelled the score at 2–2, paving the way for Federico Delbonis to complete the comeback by beating Ivo Karlović, in straight sets, thus claiming Argentina's first ever Davis Cup title. For the second time in his career, after 2011, del Potro was named ATP Comeback Player of the Year.


2017: Continued comeback, US Open semifinal

Del Potro decided to skip the
2017 Australian Open The 2017 Australian Open was a List of tennis tournaments, tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 16 and 29 January 2017. It was the 105th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tourname ...
and made his season debut at the Delray Beach Open, where he was seeded in a tournament for the first time in three years, at No. 7, and won his first three matches against Kevin Anderson, Damir Dzumhur and
Sam Querrey Samuel Austin Querrey ( ; born October 7, 1987) is an American professional pickleball player and former tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known ...
. However, in the semifinals, del Potro lost to top seed and world No. 4
Milos Raonic Milos Raonic ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP ...
in straight sets. Next, del Potro played in the Mexican Open, where he was drawn to play qualifier
Frances Tiafoe Frances Tiafoe Jr. ( ; born January 20, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. He reached his career high at world No. 10 in singles on June 19, 2023, becoming the first Sierra Leonean American man to be ranked in the top 10 by the ...
, who idolised del Potro when he was a child. Del Potro won in a tight three-set match. In the next round, del Potro lost in three sets to Djokovic after winning the first set. At the Indian Wells Masters he beat his Argentine
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
teammate Federico Delbonis in two tight sets before losing to Djokovic in three sets. At the Miami Open, he had a comfortable victory over Robin Haase before losing to Roger Federer in straight sets. Del Potro began his clay-court season at the Estoril Open, where he beat
Yuichi Sugita Yūichi, Yuichi, or Yuuichi is a masculine Japanese name, Japanese given name. Written forms Yūichi can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *勇一, "courage, 1" *祐一, "to help, 1" *祐市, ...
for the loss of just four games in the first round, but withdrew the next day after he heard that his grandfather had died. Del Potro withdrew from the Madrid Open, reappearing at the Italian Open where he reached the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time since the 2013 Paris Masters, following victories over 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov,
Kyle Edmund Kyle Steven Edmund (born 8 January 1995) is a British professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 14 and was the top-ranked male British tennis player from March 2018 to October 2019. Edmund is an ...
and seventh seed
Kei Nishikori is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...
, which was his first victory in 2017 over a top 10 ranked player. However, he succumbed yet again to world No. 2, Novak Djokovic, in a rain-interrupted straight sets match. In May at
Lyon Open Lyon Open may refer to: *ATP Lyon Open, a men's professional tennis tournament *WTA Lyon Open, a women's professional tennis tournament {{disambiguation ...
, del Potro defeated lucky loser
Quentin Halys Quentin Halys (; born 26 October 1996) is a French professional tennis player. Halys has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 47 achieved on 9 June 2025 and a doubles ranking of No. 129 achieved on 3 October 2022. He has won seven sin ...
, but lost in the next round against Portuguese qualifier
Gastão Elias Gastão José Ministro Elias (; born 24 November 1990) is a Portuguese professional tennis player, who competes on the ATP Challenger Tour. In October 2016, he reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 57 to become the third highest-ran ...
in straight sets. Doubt was cast over his participation at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
because of a back injury that had hampered him at Lyon, but he eventually decided to partake in the event. Del Potro entered the event after a five-year absence as the 29th seed, the first time since the
2014 Australian Open The 2014 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 13 and 26 January 2014. It was the 102nd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of eve ...
that he was seeded at a Grand Slam tournament. In the first round he defeated
Guido Pella Guido Pella (; born 17 May 1990) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. In August 2019, Pella reached his career best world No. 20 in singles. In July 2019, he peaked at No. 55 in doubles. Personal life His father, Carlos, taught hi ...
in straight sets, and in the second round against Nicolás Almagro, it was one set apiece before Almagro retired. Del Potro eventually fell in straight sets to top seed Andy Murray in the third round. After suffering a second round exit at Wimbledon in straight sets against
Ernests Gulbis Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988) is a Latvian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 10, making him the only male Latvian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10, a feat achieved in June 20 ...
, Del Potro began his summer North American hardcourt season in Washington, where he lost to Kei Nishikori in the third round, ending his 15-match winning streak at the event. He then lost in two sets to
Denis Shapovalov Denis Viktorovich Shapovalov (born ) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, which he first achieved on September 21, 2020. Sh ...
in the second round at the Canadian Open in Montreal, and at the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
he won against
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
in the first round and qualifier
Mitchell Krueger Mitchell Krueger (born January 12, 1994) is an American tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking by the ATP of world No. 135, achieved on July 18, 2022 and a doubles ranking of No. 173, achieved on April 27, 2015. Professional caree ...
in the second before losing to eventual champion Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. At the US Open, Del Potro defeated
Henri Laaksonen Henri Joona Julius Laaksonen (, Swiss Standard German: ; born 31 March 1992) is a Swiss inactive professional tennis player. His highest singles ranking is world No. 84, which he achieved on 14 February 2022, and his highest doubles ranking is wo ...
, Adrián Menéndez-Maceiras and Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets. He began his fourth round match against Dominic Thiem struggling, falling two sets behind. However, he then raised his level and, with the help of the crowd, eventually prevailed in five sets, saving two match points in the fourth set with two aces. In the post match interview he admitted he considered retiring from the match during the second set. The US Open account on Instagram switched his racquet for Thor's hammer using software editing tools, which created a new nickname for the Argentine: Juan Martin "del Thortro", by fellow tennis player
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
, adding to a collection of nicknames such as "Delpo", "Tower of Tandil", "Palito" (stick) and "Enano" (midget). In the quarterfinals he defeated Roger Federer in four tight sets; his second victory over the Swiss at the US Open, having beaten him in the final in 2009. By doing so he reached his first major semifinal since Wimbledon 2013. His run came to an end in four sets, losing to world No. 1, Rafael Nadal. Del Potro began his Asian hard court swing in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, where he lost in straight sets to Grigor Dimitrov in the second round, his second loss against the Bulgarian. This was followed by the Shanghai Masters, where he reached the semifinals of a Masters 1000 event for the first time since 2013 (also in Shanghai), most notably upsetting
Alexander Zverev Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player and the current world No. 3. He has won 24 ATP Tour titles in singles and two in doubles, and has been runner-up at three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, ma ...
in the third round, his second triumph over a Top 5 ranked opponent after his victory over Roger Federer at the US Open. Del Potro won the first set but eventually lost in the semifinals against Federer, who would go on to win the tournament. Del Potro defended his 2016 Stockholm Open title by defeating Grigor Dimitrov in the finals of the 2017 Stockholm Open in straight sets. This victory gave Del Potro his 20th ATP career title. He then reached the final of
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
, where he faced Federer and again lost in three sets after winning the first. Del Potro then made it to the quarterfinals of the
Paris Masters The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
, where he was one win away from entering the top 10 and qualifying for the
ATP Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant tennis event in the men's annual calendar after the four majors, as it features the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams based on their ...
, which would have been his first time since 2013 participating in the year-end tournament. However, he was defeated in three sets by
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
and subsequently declined to be chosen as an alternate for the tournament, instead choosing to rest with his family and friends in his native
Tandil Tandil is the main city of the homonymous partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823, and its name originates from the '' Piedra M ...
. Nevertheless, Del Potro won 730 points in a span of three weeks and reached the 11th spot of the
ATP rankings The PIF ATP Rankings (previously known as the Pepperstone ATP Rankings) are the merit-based method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for determining the qualification for entry as well as the seeding of players in all single ...
.


2018: First Masters, second US Open final, world No. 3, injuries

Del Potro started the season at the ASB Classic in New Zealand, where he beat Denis Shapovalov to return to the top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time since August 2014. Del Potro then defeated
Karen Khachanov Karen Abgarovich Khachanov (, ; born 21 May 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in July 2019. Khachanov has won seve ...
and David Ferrer en route to the final, where he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
he lost in the third round against
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
. At the Delray Beach Open he was seeded second but lost in the second round to eventual champion
Frances Tiafoe Frances Tiafoe Jr. ( ; born January 20, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. He reached his career high at world No. 10 in singles on June 19, 2023, becoming the first Sierra Leonean American man to be ranked in the top 10 by the ...
. He then won the Acapulco Open, defeating Kevin Anderson in straight sets to obtain his 21st title, and his biggest title since 2013 Swiss Indoors. His winning streak would not stop there, however, as he went on to win the Indian Wells Open, the first Masters 1000 tournament of his career, beating teenager
Alex De Minaur Alex de Minaur Román (born 17 February 1999) is an Australian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of No. 6 on 15 July 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 58 on 12 October ...
, veteran David Ferrer, compatriot Leonardo Mayer, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Milos Raonic and reigning champion and world No. 1, Roger Federer in the final. Del Potro prevailed in three sets despite Federer serving for the match in the decider and holding three championship points. This was del Potro's biggest achievement in the ATP Tour after the 2009 US Open. Del Potro continued his successful run at the Miami Open, beating Robin Haase, Kei Nishikori and
Filip Krajinović Filip Krajinović (, ; born 27 February 1992) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 26 on 23 April 2018.
, before prevailing in a grueling match against Milos Raonic, reaching the semifinals. His 15-match win streak ended as he was defeated by eventual champion John Isner. Del Potro returned to the courts in early May for the clay court season, although his first results were lackluster. After starting the Madrid Open with a solid victory against Bosnian
Damir Džumhur Damir Džumhur ( ; born 20 May 1992) is a Bosnian professional tennis player. His career-best singles ATP ranking of World No. 23, achieved on 2 July 2018, makes him the highest-ranked tennis player from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is currently Bos ...
in the second round, he was upset by qualifier
Dušan Lajović Dušan Lajović ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Лајовић; born 30 June 1990) is a Serbian professional tennis player. On 29 April 2019, he reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 23. On 21 September 2020, he peaked at No. 82 in the doubl ...
in three sets. In his next tournament in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, del Potro defeated rising star
Stefanos Tsitsipas Stefanos Tsitsipas (, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved in August 2021 – mak ...
before retiring against David Goffin in the next round due to a groin injury. His participation at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
was in doubt but he recovered in time and entered the tournament as the fifth seed. Following victories against French players
Nicolas Mahut Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at th ...
and
Julien Benneteau Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 25 and doubles ranking of No. 5 in November 2014. Benneteau did not win a singles ti ...
, he defeated 31st seed
Albert Ramos Viñolas Albert Ramos Viñolas (; born 17 January 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 17, achieved in May 2017 after reaching the final of the 2017 Monte Carlo Masters. Career Juniors R ...
and world No. 10, John Isner, en route to a quarterfinal clash against world No. 4 and frequent rival, Marin Čilić. After an intense match, in which he had an argument with a fan who supposedly heckled him, Del Potro defeated Čilić in four sets and reached the semifinals, the first time since
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
. He then lost to ten-times French Open champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets. His run to the semifinals ensured that, for the first time since February 2014, Del Potro would return to his career-best ranking of world No. 4. At Wimbledon, Del Potro defeated Peter Gojowczyk, Feliciano Lopez and
Benoît Paire Benoît "Ben" Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player. His best result in a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, ...
, before a long four set win over 2 days against
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009. Personal li ...
. World No. 1 Rafael Nadal defeated him in five sets in the quarters after del Potro had led two sets to one. Del Potro then competed at the Los Cabos Open, where he reached the final but lost to second-seeded
Fabio Fognini Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. Fognini's most successful surface is Clay court#Red clay, ...
in straight sets. Del Potro moved up to a new career-high ranking of world No. 3 as of the week of 13 August. Del Potro was seeded fourth at
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, defeating Chung Hyeon and
Nick Kyrgios Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. Kyrgios has been ranked as high as world No. 13 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won se ...
before falling to David Goffin in the quarterfinals. Entering the US Open seeded third, del Potro reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set, defeating Donald Young, Denis Kudla, 31st seed Fernando Verdasco, and 20th seed
Borna Ćorić Borna Ćorić (; born 14 November 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player. On 5 November 2018, he reached his best singles ranking of world No. 12. In 2022, Ćorić became the lowest-ranked champion in ATP Tour Masters 1000, Masters 1000 h ...
. He then faced 11th seed John Isner, defeating him in four sets to reach his second consecutive US Open semifinal, where he faced top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal in a rematch of the previous year's semifinal. Nadal retired from the match due to a knee injury after del Potro took the first two sets. With this victory, del Potro advanced to his second Grand Slam final, nine years after his 2009 US Open triumph. He was defeated by two-time champion Novak Djokovic in three straight sets. Del Potro entered the China Open in October as the top seed. He defeated
Albert Ramos Viñolas Albert Ramos Viñolas (; born 17 January 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 17, achieved in May 2017 after reaching the final of the 2017 Monte Carlo Masters. Career Juniors R ...
, Karen Khachanov,
Filip Krajinović Filip Krajinović (, ; born 27 February 1992) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 26 on 23 April 2018.
, and reached the final without dropping a set after
Fabio Fognini Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. Fognini's most successful surface is Clay court#Red clay, ...
withdrew before the semifinal. He faced unseeded
Nikoloz Basilashvili Nikoloz Basilashvili ( ka, ნიკოლოზ ბასილაშვილი, tr, ; born 23 February 1992) is a Georgian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 16 on 27 May 2019 making him the ...
in the final, losing in two sets. He then competed in the Shanghai Masters seeded third. He defeated
Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
and faced 13th seed Borna Ćorić in the third round, narrowly dropping the first set before he retired due to a knee injury. This injury forced his withdrawal from the rest of the season, including the
ATP Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant tennis event in the men's annual calendar after the four majors, as it features the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams based on their ...
, for which he had qualified for the first time since 2013.


2019–2021: Continued injuries

Del Potro's injury lingered into the 2019 season, forcing him to withdraw from the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
. He made his comeback at the Delray Beach Open in February where he reached the quarterfinals, losing to
Mackenzie McDonald Michael Mackenzie Lowe McDonald (born April 16, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 37, achieved on October 16, 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 49, achieved on Octobe ...
in three sets. Still not having recovered from injury, Del Potro chose not to defend his titles in
Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...
and Indian Wells, withdrawing from both tournaments. Playing in his first tournament back at the Madrid Open, del Potro lost his first match to Laslo Djere. He then played in Rome and secured wins against David Goffin, who had a 3–1 lead over him before the match, and
Casper Ruud Casper Ruud (; born 22 December 1998) is a Norwegian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 2 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in September 2022, making him t ...
. He failed to convert two match points in a second set tiebreaker to ultimately lose his quarterfinal against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic over a three-hour match. At the
2019 French Open The 2019 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 26 May to 9 June, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and ...
, del Potro was seeded eighth. After wins in the first three rounds against
Nicolás Jarry Nicolás Jarry Fillol (; born 10 October 1995) is a Chilean professional tennis player. He achieved his highest Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world 16 in May 2024 and is the current No. 3 player from Chile. His hi ...
,
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and Jordan Thompson respectively he lost in the fourth round to tenth-seeded
Karen Khachanov Karen Abgarovich Khachanov (, ; born 21 May 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in July 2019. Khachanov has won seve ...
in four sets. In his first grass-court tournament of the season at
Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in Barons Court, West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "HSBC Championships" for spo ...
, del Potro suffered another career-threatening injury when he fractured his kneecap in his first round match against
Denis Shapovalov Denis Viktorovich Shapovalov (born ) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, which he first achieved on September 21, 2020. Sh ...
. Del Potro did not play any professional tennis from June 2019 at Queen's Club until 2022 at the Argentina Open. He underwent four right knee surgeries (June 2019, January 2020, August 2020 and March 2021) and withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021. At the 2021 US Open, del Potro reported that his knee was getting better, he had picked up training on the court again and hoped to be ready to play on the tour within a couple of months.


2022: Return to professional tennis, potential retirement

On 31 January, it was announced that Del Potro will make his return to professional tennis at the Argentina Open, where he accepted a wildcard. He also accepted a wildcard to play the Rio Open. On 5 February, Del Potro stated in a press conference that he would likely retire after the Argentina Open. He cited ongoing knee pain due to an injury as a reason behind the potential retirement, and said that his return is "maybe more of a farewell than a comeback". Del Potro lost in the first round of the Argentina Open to Federico Delbonis, and again hinted at retirement in the post-match interview. He withdrew from the 2022 Rio Open on 11 February. Del Potro has not played any matches since; he dropped out of the singles rankings on 20 June, as well as the doubles rankings on 9 May.


2023-2024: Failed comeback at the US Open, farewell exhibition match

In March, he stated that he would begin training for a potential return at the 2023 US Open. In August, he announced that he would not be able to compete in the tournament, due to his physical state. Del Potro took part in a farewell exhibition match titled 'The Last Challenge' against Novak Djokovic in Buenos Aires on 1 December 2024. In front of 15,000 spectators, he won in straight sets.


Playing style

Del Potro is an offensive baseliner with a very powerful serve and heavy
groundstroke In racket sports a groundstroke, or ground stroke, refers to a forehand or backhand shot that is executed after the ball has bounced on the court. The term is commonly used in the sports of tennis and pickleball, and is counter to a volley sh ...
s, using his notably powerful forehand to push his opponents deep into or off the court. His forehand is one of his main strengths and is one the most powerful in the game, capable of frequently generating speeds more than 160 km/h. It is widely considered among the top three best forehands on tour by fellow players and analysts, alongside
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
and
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
. Although he possessed a very consistent and powerful double-handed backhand, injury and surgeries on his wrist have rendered his backhand the main weakness in his game. Since his return in 2016, del Potro made tactical changes in his game in order to protect his wrist, like significantly reducing the pace of his two-hander and adopting a one-handed slice. Despite del Potro admitting that relying on slices is "not my game," the shot has been effective in moving his opponents out of position and slowing down rallies enough to allow him to set up powerful offensive shots with his forehand. Furthermore, to compensate for the newfound vulnerability in his backhand wing, del Potro has improved the power and accuracy of his other shots, most notably his serve.


Equipment and apparel

Del Potro used the Wilson Hyper ProStaff 6.1 Midplus Stretch early on in his career, and has continued to use this racquet under new paint jobs years later. Del Potro is very superstitious, and after suffering a wrist injury shortly after switching to the Wilson BLX Pro Tour paint job in 2010, he returned to playing with the then outdated Wilson K-Factor 6.1 95 paint job. He particularly favored the exact racquets he had used to win his only Grand Slam title at the 2009 US Open. He again refused to update his racquet to the Wilson BLX Juice Pro in 2012, and in 2014 had only a few K-Factor racquets left. He makes use of the same racket painted to resemble the Wilson ProStaff 97. For strings, he uses Luxilon ALU Power strung at 58 lbs. His clothing sponsor is Nike. He used to wear sleeveless shirts, but more recently has worn crew shirts, and often also sports double-wide wristbands and a
bandana A kerchief (from the Old French ''couvre-chef'', "cover head"), also known as a bandana or bandanna, is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the Human head, head, face, or neck for protective or decorative purposes. The popularity of ...
. For shoes, he wears Nike Air Max Cages.


Record against the Big Four

Del Potro has a combined record against all members of the Big Four, which is one of the best in this category. He is also one of the few to have won at least three matches against each of the four.


Roger Federer

Del Potro has a record against
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
, and a record in finals. Besides the 2009 US Open title, del Potro also captured the 2012 and 2013 Swiss Indoors finals and the 2018 Indian Wells final, while Federer won the 2012 Rotterdam Open and the 2017 Basel Open. Federer won their five-set meeting at the
2009 French Open The 2009 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 108th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from May 24 through J ...
semifinals, and the longest best-of-three-set match in history at the 2012 Olympic semifinal, 19–17 in the deciding set. Del Potro prevailed in the 2017 US Open quarterfinals against Federer in four sets.


Novak Djokovic

Del Potro has a record against
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
. Djokovic won their first four meetings, before back to back victories for del Potro at the 2011 Davis Cup and their bronze medal match at the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in straight sets. In
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
Djokovic won an epic five-setter at the
2013 Wimbledon Championships The 2013 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 127th edition of the The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon C ...
semifinals and a three-setter at the 2013 Shanghai Masters final, while del Potro defeated Djokovic en route to his second Masters 1000 final, at the 2013 Indian Wells Masters. Del Potro upset Djokovic in the first round at the 2016 Rio Olympics en route to the silver medal. Djokovic defeated Del Potro in three close sets in the final of the 2018 US Open, which was the first grand slam final for Del Potro since his victory at the 2009 US Open. Three of his four victories have come via national representation tournaments.


Rafael Nadal

Del Potro has a record against
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
. He bested Nadal in the semifinals en route to his 2009 US Open title, which was the first time a player managed to beat both Roger Federer and Nadal in the same Grand Slam tournament (Novak Djokovic subsequently did the same at the 2011 US Open). However, the Spaniard managed to win both times in the Indian Wells Masters encounters, in the
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
semifinal and the
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
final. Nadal also won the fourth and last rubber of the 2011 Davis Cup final against the Argentine. Del Potro gained the upper hand at the 2013 Shanghai Masters, defeating Nadal to reach the final where he lost to Djokovic. Del Potro defeated Nadal in a third set tiebreak in the semifinal of the
2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, while Nadal stopped Del Potro's 2017 US Open run, defeating him in a four-set semifinal. In the quarterfinals of 2018 Wimbledon, Nadal came from two sets to one down to defeat Del Potro in an epic five-set match. In their last meeting, Del Potro advanced to the final of the 2018 US Open when Nadal had to retire, while trailing by two sets to love.


Andy Murray

Del Potro has a record against
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
. They only played two finals. The first was in the 2009 Rogers Cup, which was won by Murray. However, when del Potro beat Murray in the quarterfinals of the 2013 BNP Paribas Open, del Potro won against all members of the Big Four in 2013. In their second final, del Potro lost to Murray in the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
. However, during Argentina's Davis Cup semi-final tie against Great Britain, del Potro got revenge by beating Andy Murray in a five-set thriller that was, for each man, the longest match of his career.


Personal life

Del Potro dated singer Jimena Barón from April 2017 until February 2018. Del Potro dated model Sofia Jimenez from December 2018 until their breakup in May 2020. In 2022, it was revealed that Daniel del Potro (Juan Martín's late father) had misappropriated US$30 million of his son's career earnings while managing his financial affairs. A documentary based on his life was directed by Rodolfo Lamboglia. In May 2013 del Potro met
Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
, a fellow Argentine, after mass at the Vatican in Rome and described it as an incredible experience which he would never forget. He is a
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
.


Career statistics


Grand Slam tournament performance timeline


Grand Slam tournament finals


Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)


Olympic gold medal matches


Singles: 1 (1 silver medal)


Year-end championships finals


Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)


Masters 1000 finals


Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)


Notes


References


External links


Profiles

* * * * * *
Juan Martin del Potro
at the Olympic Games winners profile * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Potro, Juan Martin Del 1988 births Living people Argentine male tennis players Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine Roman Catholics Sportspeople from Tandil Tennis players from Buenos Aires Province US Open (tennis) champions Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic tennis players for Argentina Olympic bronze medalists for Argentina Olympic medalists for Argentina in tennis Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Argentina 21st-century Argentine sportsmen Juan Martín del Potro