Juan Martin del Potro challenged for the biggest titles against some of the biggest names in his career, despite often being plagued with injury.
Del Potro officially retired last year, after struggling with varying wrist and knee problems that prevented him from having that the farewell that he had planned.
More recently Del Potro has been spotted watching Novak Djokovic at the Miami Open, after he was invited to sit in the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s player box.
Due to his injury struggles over the years, the Argentine is often called one of the most unlucky players of all time, with an ATP player even recently suggesting that Del Potro’s forehand was better than Roger Federer’s.
Juan Martin del Potro found his 2009 Roland Garros defeat to Roger Federer ‘very painful’
Del Potro and Federer played in some very big matches over the years, including in the final of Indian Wells where the Argentine won the last ATP title of his career in 2018.
Despite this, more often than not Del Potro was on the wrong side of their head-to-head and that was the case once again at Roland Garros in 2009.
Rafael Nadal retired with 14 Roland Garros titles last year and is the most dominant player in the tournament’s history.
However, in 2009 he suffered a shock defeat to Robin Soderling and created a big opening in the men’s singles draw.
Del Potro went onto reach his first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros that year, where he would face Federer, who was seeking his first title at the Parisian major tournament after three consecutive final losses.
Despite leading that semi-final by two-sets-to-one, Del Potro was unable to get the job done and faced a heartbreaking defeat to eventual champion Roger Federer.
When looking back on that match in an interview with Roland Garros, Del Potro admitted that he found this defeat particularly difficult to accept.
“Going down to Federer at Roland Garros in 2009 was very painful,” said Del Potro. “That was the year Roger became champion, though I also fancied my chances that year.”
Although he could not get over the line at Roland Garros, Del Potro was able to get revenge on Federer later that year.
At the 2009 US Open, Del Potro would beat Federer in five sets to win what turned out to be his one and only Grand Slam title.
Juan Martin del Potro says what it is important to do after losing
While defeat is not something that Del Potro enjoyed experiencing, he later went onto admit that it was just part and parcel of being a professional tennis player.
The former world number three also spoke about how you can learn from these defeats and offered advice to younger players coming up.
“As a rule, tennis players lose more matches than they win,” said Del Potro. “So after every defeat, it’s very important to analyze the game to see what you’ve done well and what you’ve done wrong.
“Learn from your mistakes, listen to your coach and those around you. That’s especially true for young players, juniors, as this new generation has a different mentality. It’s not easy to pay attention, to understand, to listen, but I think these are very important things in a player’s development.”
Del Potro definitely experienced a lot more winning than losing in his career, winning 72% of his 613 matches.
Some of his career highlights include winning the aforementioned US Open title, the Davis Cup victory with Argentina in 2016 and two Olympic medals in singles.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
