Juan Martin not only stands out from other Argentinean players because of his age or his preference, he stands out because of his skill and achievements.
Del Potro was recognized in the world of Tennis as early as 2003 when he was still 14 years old. He was a wildcard to three ITF Circuit events. Unfortunately, he lost in the first round of each one of the events. 2004 was a better year for Del Potro because it was during this year that he won his first professional match, yes, at only the age of fifteen. In 2005, Del Potro improved his game further and managed to win three pro titles consecutively.
2007 would be marked by many ATP events for Del Potro. He was able to join in several ATP events even joining the ATP Masters reaching as far as the semifinals, quite a leap from his performance in the past few years. It was also in the year 2007 that Del Potro started participating in Grand Slam events.
However, it was the year 2008 that everyone including Del Potro was looking forward to. In 2008, Del Potro finally won his first ATP tour title at the Mercedes Cup. One week later, Del Potro won his second ATP tour title at the Australian Open. His third ATP title was won at the Countrywide Classic, beating none other than Andy Roddick. By 2008, Del Potro immediately skyrocketed in the ATP rankings, becoming the youngest player to do so.
A year later, del Potro enjoyed his first Grand Slam title, and had his first year-end championship final. Unfortunately, by 2010, he suffered from a wrist injury that caused him to fall through the ranks. By 2011, he returned to the tour. However, it was only in 2012 that he was able to make a comeback to the Top 10. During the said year, he also won his first Olympic medal.
While del Potro started to rise once more in ranks, he suffered his second wrist injury in 2014-2015. Not to be hindered by his injury, del Potro worked hard and recovered, making another comeback to tennis by 2016. It has been a long journey for del Potro, but he has finally managed to return to the Top 10 in 2018, and had his first ATP Masters 1000 title.
Del Potro is known for his short temper and unusual preference for hard courts, unlike other Argentinean players who prefer clay courts. So far, he has a career record of 405-160 and 22 career titles in singles, plus 1 career title in doubles. He has 1 Grand Slam title which is the 2009 US Open title in singles, but none in doubles. He also has a Davis Cup victory with his team, and 1 silver medal for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and 1 bronze medal for the 2012 London Olympics.
