1st Bronze Medal for Argentina!!

THANK YOU Del Potro!!!!!

Who is he ?

Nickname

Delpo, Torre de Tandil [Tower of Tandil]. (atpworldtour.com, 12 Jun 2012)

Hobbies

Surfing the internet, watching football, spending time with family and friends. (Wilson Tennis, 29 Oct 2010)

Language(s) spoken

English, Italian, Spanish

Coach

Franco Davin from 2008 (NY Times, 20 Nov 2008; del-potro.com.ar, 2012)

Position and style

Double-handed backhand (NY Times, 5 May 2010)

Handedness

Right (NY Times, 5 May 2010)

Other sports

His father Daniel played semi-professional rugby in Argentina. (AFP, 10 Mar 2011)

Injuries

He withdrew from the Queens tournament in June 2012 due to pain in his knee. (Twitter, June 2012)

He missed almost all of 2010 with an injury to his right wrist. He originally felt soreness in the wrist during the 2009 Paris Masters, but extensive therapy did not resolve the problem. He underwent surgery in May 2010 and missed out on the chance to defend his US Open title, spending 10 months on the sidelines. (NY Times, 5 May 2010; Reuters, 19 May 2010; Bleacher Report, 5 Jul 2010)

Additional information

Start of sporting career

He began playing tennis at age seven, in his local club, Club Independiente de Tandil. His first coach was Marcelo Gomez. (BBC, 15 Sep 2009)

Hero

Tennis players Pete Sampras, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin. (NY Times, 7 Sep 2009)

Most influential person in career

Former coach Marcelo Gomez. (The Observer, 17 Jan 2010)

Awards

He was named the ATP Comeback Player of the Year in 2011 after rising from 485th to 11th in the world rankings. (atpworldtour.com, 12 Jun 2012)

In 2009 he was voted Argentina's Sports Personality of the Year, beating footballer Lionel Messi and golfer Angel Cabrera. (Reuters, 23 Dec 2009)

On his way to winning the 2009 US Open he became the first person to beat both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the same Grand Slam event. (atpworldtour.com, 12 Jun 2012)

General

EASTERN GRIP

He hits his forehand with an eastern grip, rarely seen in the modern era. Most top players use the western or semi-western grip. The eastern grip allows him to hit the forehand either flat or with topspin, but it also has less margin for error. (NY Times, 11 Jan 2011)

TURNED PRO

He became a professional player in 2005. (del-potro.com.ar, 2012)