How Juan Martin del Potro Has Become a Grand Slam Title Threat Again

Juan Martin del Potro’s reawakening is shifting men’s tennis. He captured the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medal for men’s singles, and he was the guiding hero to lead Argentina to its first Davis Cup title. He’s the ATP’s Comeback Player of the Year with six top-10 wins, and suddenly, he’s a Grand Slam threat for 2017.

Del Potro is quietly imposing. His large stature is decorated with simple clothing colors—white, light blue or more conservative solid shirts. He still sports a Nike headband above his kind, dark eyes and chiseled face. Big hands and muscular forehands deliver big-time power with a tennis racket, but he executes with easy footwork and skill and with scarcely a hint of panic.

He’s the gunslinger who can ride into town, clean things up, win a duel and disappear before the sun goes down. But can he stay healthy? Therein lies the rub.

Del Potro was the rising prospect who outgunned Roger Federer in the 2009 U.S. Open final with breathtaking, powerful groundstrokes. Then the wrist injuries cropped up, and he roamed the perimeters of greatness, appearing for significant bursts but rarely gaining the health needed for a serious run at Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

Meanwhile, the giant Argentine has saddled up his confidence and returned from his latest career-threatening wrist surgery. He outlawed retirement talks, stared down and defeated the best players in tennis since early summer. Del Potro, more than any player outside the Fabled Four, is poised to ride into 2017 to conquer the increasingly open landscape of the wild, wild ATP tour.

#DelPotro: “In the summer of 2015, I was very close to giving up, I didn’t have any guarantee of making a come back to the court.” pic.twitter.com/DZoWpEEOmB

— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) November 30, 2016

The Joy of Playing Tennis

It was the 2016 U.S. Open quarterfinals and Del Potro had finally been worn down by Wawrinka, one of the few players who can trade baseline blasts with him. (Ironically, Wawrinka was the big-match veteran that Del Potro could have been, and he would seal his third major title a few days later.)

The tough New York crowd had nothing …

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