Juan Martin Del Potro:
The Backhand is Back
Matthew Cronin
It looks like the Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro has an opportunity to win a major again -- and that could be because of his weakest shot. The way he played his way back into contention at the highest levels of the tour may have improved his overall game.
Back in 2009, at just 20 years old, he won the US Open. He crushed an injured Rafa Nadal in the semis, and in the final, he out hit Roger Federer in five sets. Then, it looked like soon enough, he would become No. 1.
That of course didn't happen because of the injuries that started in 2010. First it was his right wrist. He had to stop for months to get surgery. Then he came back, and this time it was his left wrist. He had to have surgery on it as well--three times. A few doctors said that he might not play tennis again.
But Del Potro pressed on. In 2016, he came back onto the ATP Tour – or most of him did. His old backhand still wasn't there. During his early 20s, he could hit his two-handed backhand with spin and speed, no problem.
Comeback Slice
But in the early stages of his comeback he rarely hit it. His left wrist wouldn't allow him to swing fully. He had no choice — slice was all he could do. He could win matches because his massive serve and his forehand were both just fine. But hitting slice backhands almost exclusively really hurt him. It made it impossible to beat the big boys at the Grand Slams and the ATP 1000s.
Fortunately, starting in 2017 and even more this year, Del Potro's backhand has slowly come back. He's now hitting more with topspin than slice, the opposite of when he first returned. The speed has also gone up substantially.
That has translated into results. He won Acapulco with some big wins, beating Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson, all of whom are in the top 10. He then won Indian Wells, first beating Milos Raonic and then Federer 7-6 in the third. It was the first time he had won an ATP 1000 — ever. He was overjoyed.
The next week, he went to Miami. He was exhausted, but he pushed on, reaching the semis, where he finally went down against John Isner. Still, it was obvious --Del Potro was back.
Part of this is the confidence that comes with winning, but it is obviously related to the fact that he can hit the two-hander again. He still can't do it every time, but he can find it in the bigger moments. As Del Potro has said, when it begins to feel very sore, he backs off, because he just wants to play.
He knows he could become injured again. At 29, he doesn't want to be off the tour for months again.
As Federer has said, "In the beginning he was chipping a lot. He knew it was probably not be enough against some players, but he was happy enough playing this way, which I admire a lot."
But Federer continued, "I feel like he looks good on the backhand now. He's won a Masters 1000. It's a great story."
A Positive in the Long Run?
So did his injury actually help him in the long run? The positive was that his one-hander improved substantially. He became very patient, he took the balls very low and his sliced was pretty wicked. He could go deep, move it around the lines, and then as his confidence returned mix it up with topspin.
Initially Del Potro could not rip the backhand for a winner very often, but in response he moved around the ball more, playing inside where could get balls into the wheel house of his huge forehand and crush it, anywhere he wanted. His net play increased and improved as well. He has always had very soft touch but hitting thousands of one hand backhands had to increase his confidence volleying on that side.
Can Del Potro actually win another Grand Slam? That is very possible, especially with the other top guys going on and off the tour. Roger Federer isn't playing the clay court season. Nadal just came back from an injury, Andy Murray had surgery and won't play until the grass.
Stan Wawrinka has had more knee problems since he came back from surgery, and the 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic is back from elbow problems but seems to be seriously off his game.
So Del Potro has a terrific chance to win a major again. Probably not at Roland Garros, grinding away on the red clay. But at Wimbledon and the US Open he could be better than even blasting away but also with greater variety. Let's hope he stays healthy so we can see.
