Juan Martin del Potro continues to maintain a close relationship with tennis following his retirement from the sport.
Del Potro officially retired in December 2024, but he has served as the ambassador for the Roland-Garros Junior Series for the past three years.
The tournament takes place in Sao Paulo in mid-April, ahead of which Del Potro has spoken of the importance of role models.
The Argentine had plenty of tennis players to look up to in the early stages of his career, which he finished as a 22-time ATP champion.
That includes a US Open final win over Roger Federer, one of his many role models alongside Australian legend Lleyton Hewitt.
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Juan Martin del Potro looked up to Lleyton Hewitt on the ATP Tour
When asked for his role models and how their presence influenced his career, Del Potro told Roland Garros: “I followed Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt a lot.
“I think Lleyton had commitment and a very marked personality on the court, he was also very nice.
“And Marat had a style of play that made it look very easy. I grew up watching them and I liked Pete Sampras as well.
“Afterwards I played in this golden era of tennis and obviously they were rivals, but I also had much admiration for Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, and for all my colleagues.”
It is an extremely strong list of role models to look up to, with every player enjoying phenomenal careers.
They will, however, very likely have had a similar attitude towards Del Potro, a former ATP number three.
That includes Hewitt, who incidentally finished his career with a 3-2 head-to-head record over the Argentine.
| Year | Winner | Tournament | Round | Surface | Score |
| 2013 | Lleyton Hewitt | US Open | Round of 64 | Outdoor Hard | 64 57 36 76(2) 61 |
| 2013 | Lleyton Hewitt | Queen’s Club | Quarterfinal | Outdoor Grass | 62 26 62 |
| 2011 | Juan Martin del Potro | San Jose | Quarterfinal | Indoor Hard | 62 63 |
| 2009 | Juan Martin del Potro | Washington | Round of 16 | Outdoor Hard | 46 63 76(2) |
| 2009 | Lleyton Hewitt | Wimbledon | Round of 64 | Outdoor Grass | 63 75 75 |
Juan Martin del Potro offers advice for young players to become Grand Slam contenders
Along with his 2009 US Open final win over Federer, Del Potro also lost the 2018 US Open final to Djokovic.
Fittingly, amid his Roland-Garros Junior Series ambassador role, he has now offered advice for young players looking to follow in his footsteps.
“The values that the players must have, like anyone, is respect for the work, for their coaches, dedication to the effort, and to work hard,” he said.
“I think that serves you for a tennis career and for building your personal life. It seems to me that tennis qualities develop afterwards, with time, and they are very personal to each one.
“Without a doubt, there are many chances that things can turn out well with those values and that the kids can manage to become professionals.”
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Del Potro certainly enjoyed a glittering career, although ironically it would have been even better if not for the presence of many of his idols.
The Big Three were a constant thorn in his side, while his honors list also includes an Olympic silver medal after his 2016 final defeat to Murray.
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