Juan Martin del Potro is an Argentinean professional tennis player who came into the limelight in 2009 when he defeated both Rafael Nadal (now the No. 1 in men’s singles) and then five-time defending champion Roger Federer to win his very first Grand Slam title at the US Open.
The tall Argentinean is called “Delpo” by many and is currently ranked 6th in the men’s singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Here are all the other things you may not know about him.
Juan Martin del Potro’s Brief Bio
Juan Martín del Potro was born in Tandil, Argentina, on September 23, 1988. While his father, Daniel del Potro, was a semi-professional rugby player for the Argentine Rugby Federation, his mother, Patricia Lucas, is a teacher.
Potro used to have an older sister who died in a car accident at the age of eight, he has a younger sister named Julieta. The tennis star is multilingual, he speaks English, Spanish, and a little Italian.
Career
He started playing tennis at the tender age of seven and Marcelo Gómez was his coach. His talent was later to be discovered by former Italian tennis professional Ugo Colombini. Ugo accompanied him in the early stages of his career and is still his agent and friend today.
As a junior, del Potro Marin beat Cilic and Pavel Tchekov in 2012 in the Orange Bowl 14s to win the title. He received three wild cards for participating in three ITF circuit events in Argentina, but unfortunately, he lost in the first round of each. In 2005 he finished third in the combined junior world rankings.
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In 2004, he defeated Matias Niemiz to win his first match in the senior national team at the ITF Circuit event in Buenos Aires. Later that year he won a tournament in Antofagasta and also reached the quarter-finals at an ITF Circuit event in Campinas (Brazil), where he beat Henrique Mello and Alessandro Camarco. Before the year 2004 ended, he recorded two more victories, raising his world rankings from 1441 in August to 1077 in November.
That same year he reached the finals of the Argentina Cup and the Campionati Internazionali D’Italia Junior Tournaments. Until 2008 he was on the list of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) of the top 10 tennis players in the world. In 2010, he reached the career level of world No. 4, and after this success, he had to stay away from the game for some time due to an injury on his right wrist.
In 2011, he returned in full and still maintained his number 4 position in the world. In 2014 he had to stay away from most of his competitions due to another wrist injury, this time on the left hand. After his long absence from the game, he returned completely in 2016 to show two of his greatest performances in his career – the first was against Andy Murray on Delray Beach and the second at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he defeated both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Juan Martin del Potro defeated Croatia by Marin Cilic in the Davis Cup final in Zagreb, securing Argentina its very first Davis Cup title. In 2018, he defeated defending champion Roger Federer in the final, winning the Indian Wells Masters singles.
In addition to tennis, the professional player also loves association football, as he is a big fan of the Argentinean Boca Juniors and the Italian Juventus team. Juan Martin del Potro and the Argentine-Italian national football player Mauro Camoranesi grew up in the same city and have been friends since childhood.
Juan Martin del Potro’s Family, Married, Wife, Daughter, Girlfriend
It is not known that the tennis star is married and has not yet fathered children. However, he has had a relationship with the Argentine actress and pop singer Jimena Baron.
The mother of the one and del Patro began their relationship in April 2017, but unfortunately, their paths broke up in February 2018, Jimena citing her tight schedule and busy career as the reason for their separation. She puts it this way: “When we first met, he loved my cooking and music and he was very supportive, but a half-hearted relationship was not an option for either of us. With our careers, we both have a hard time, and there’s no point in having a hard time”.
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Height
The former US Open champion is actually one of the tallest tennis players in the world. He stands at 6 feet 6 inches in height – 1.98 m and weighs 97kg.