Is Juan Martin del Potro cursed? Here is the 23-year streak he could end at Wimbledon
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO will have the pressure of an entire country on him today when he takes on Peter Gojowczyk in the first round at Wimbledon.
Argentina’s football team crashed out of the World Cup, Lionel Messi et al, on Saturday with a 4-3 defeat to France, leaving the country looking elsewhere for sporting success.
Del Potro is currently ranked fourth in the world and is the No 5 seed at Wimbledon, where he will be in action from 11.30am today on Court No 3.
But if he wins Wimbledon, he will end a 23-year streak without an Argentinian player winning a singles title on grass.
However, Argentinian newspaper La Nacion believe that Del Potro, the only active player from his home nation whose Wimbledon record (17-8) is a positive one, can end that run this fortnight.
The headline reads “Few can stop Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro seems to be one of them”.
And Del Potro himself, who missed nine straight Grand Slam tournaments between 2014 and 2016 after a horror run of wrist injuries, seems to believe the time for him to step up to the very top of tennis is now.
“Rafa on clay, and Roger on grass: it's the toughest challenge for all the players on tour,” Del Potro told the BBC last week.
“But I did well at the beginning of the season, and I know how close I am to them. But at the same time I feel very far [away].
He added: “We have many good things on tour, but living in Argentina you must travel a lot.
“It is long flights to get everywhere - and maybe you have to be for one month, or one month and a half, far from your house or from your people, and that could be the worst part of the job.
“I always try to stay positive during the games and I never give up during a match.
“Also when I was injured, I never give up doing all the treatments and that's helped me to keep fighting all the time.”