Del Potro’s fairytale ending

It looked very much as though there was no coming back for the 6ft 6in gentle giant from Argentina after being ravaged by injuries – seven years since the defining moment of his career.

It is great testament to Juan Martin del Potro for his remarkable determination to turn his career a full circle and make a stunning return to the game with Davis Cup glory.

The man known as ‘Delpo’ completed a fairytale ending in Zagreb with an unforgettable comeback victory over Marin Cilic to inspire his team-mate Federico Delbonis for a sensational 3-2 victory against hosts Croatia.

His return to form is one that has reached out to tennis fanatics wanting to see someone other than Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray making the headlines.

At the age of 20, Argentina welcomed their man back to Buenos Aires with a ticker tape parade to celebrate their latest tennis legend, and it was the same again when Del Potro and his heroic team-mates landed in the capital to show off their shiny new trophy.

He showed nerves of steel and the heart of a lion as he launched a ferocious comeback and played through the fifth set with a broken finger on his left hand to beat Cilic in a tennis epic lasting four hours and 53 minutes.

Argentina coach Daniel Orsanic heaped praise on all his players but singled out Del Potro’s heroics.

“What Del Potro did was amazing. He represents his country with so much pride and he also showed how good a player he is,” he said. “His achievement today borders on the impossible.”

The potential many saw in him as a teenager finally came to fruition at the US Open in 2009 as the sixth-ranked Del Potro unleashed his trademark bone-crunching forehands to wow spectators.

Juan Monaco, Jurgen Melzer, Daniel Kollerer and former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero were all vanquished. Cilic was next in line to taste the venom of Del Potro’s arsenal in the quarter-finals.

He reached the first Grand Slam final of his career after humbling Rafa Nadal in straight sets by out-muscling the normally aggressive Spaniard.

In the showpiece, Del Potro ended the five-year unbeaten US Open reign of Roger Federer in a pulsating final, twice fighting back from a set down to win 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.

He not only downed the world No 1 with a performance that was both brilliant and courageous, but he wrote his name in the history books by becoming only the second Argentinian to win the US title after Guillermo Vilas.

“I had two dreams this week,” said Del Potro. “One was to win the US Open and the other one is to be like Roger. “One is done, but I need to improve a lot …

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