Potrait:Juan Martin Del Potro - 網球 Tennis

Portrait: Juan Martin Del Potro
Monday, May 28, 2007

Rafael Nadal will need to be on his toes when he takes on Juan Martin Del
Potro, one of the rising stars of Argentinean tennis on Tuesday. Haling from
Tandil, a town 350km south of Buenos Aires, 18 year-old Del Potro has come a
long way to make it onto centre court at Roland Garros.

Juan Martin Del Potro’s love affair with tennis began when he was seven
years old. Spotted hitting balls with uncommon venom and accuracy against the
wall of his local club, he was persuaded to try his hand on the courts. The
rest, as they say, is history, even if it did take three years before Juan
Martin was persuaded to give up football and concentrate on tennis.

Under Zabaleta’s wing

"My tennis teacher, Marcelo Gomez, kept telling me my future was in tennis so
I took him at his word and knuckled down". Seven years after first picking up
a racket, Del Porto was being trained on a friendly basis by another prodigal
son of Tandil, Mariano Zabaleta, and won the Orange Bowl 14s title.

By 2006 he had become the youngest player in the top 100 and by early 2007
had reached the semi-finals in Adelaide, won the decisive rubber of a Davis
Cup tie against Austria and made the last sixteen in Miami.

"I’m pleased the way he has come on,” says Zabaleta’s former mentor
Eduardo Infantino, who has been Del Potro’s coach for the past year. “Juan
Martin still has a lot of progress to make, mentally, tactically and
physically. We gave ourselves a three-year plan to make him a more complete
player."

Wild horse

Already No.58 in the world, “Wild horse” lives up to the literal
translation of his surname. Standing 6’4” with long flowing hair he is a
striking figure, and already enormously popular among the new generation of
tennis fans in Argentina.

The young man is wary of all the attention: "Sure it’s nice when people are
talking about you but it does add to the weight of expectation. That comes
from knowing people are watching you and wanting you to do well. I play a lot
better when I’m relaxed," he argues.

"Juan Martin is still quite shy, but he knows what he needs to do to make it,
” insists Martin Urruty, from Argentina’s sports magazine Ole. “He’s
ambitious but he keeps his feet on the ground. That’s why he is so well
liked by the vast majority of the other Argentinians on the circuit. He was
suitably humble when he made the Davis Cup team and that went down very well."

Nadal’s sparring partner

Del Potro has come to Paris in the company of one of his old friends from
Tandil, and is enjoying life on the tour. “Things were a little basic in
Tandil. I’d always trained at the same club, on the same courts, with old
balls, which is no bad thing, because it gives you the desire and dedication
to work hard. But then when you turn pro and play on good courts, with great
players, it’s brilliant.”

Rafael Nadal is a friend and training partner: "They’re always playing video
games together. Juan Martin spends a lot of time with Rafael and his
entourage when they are at tournaments", says Martin Urruty. Friend or no
friend, Del Porto would obviously have preferred to avoid the reigning
champion so early in the tournament. He lost to another former winner, Juan
Carlos Ferrero, last year, and was hoping for an easier draw this time
around, but according to Infantino at least, "Juan Martin has what it takes
to beat Nadal".

"After the French we’re off to play on grass. That will stand him in good
stead for the future,” says his coach. He may hail from the country that has
given us so many clay-court kings, but Del Porto is actually happier on
faster surfaces. That said, Rafael Nadal will need to take care his
precociously talented friend does not pull off a shock, and clinch the
greatest win of his burgeoning career on Tuesday.

沒想到他跟Rafa是好友兼訓練對象 好好加油阿!!!!

--

--