Few players can unite the tennis world the way Juan Martin del Potro does, as it seems everyone is rooting for the Argentine in his latest comeback attempt.
The 2009 US Open champion is three tournaments into his return from wrist surgery and he’s already made the leap from outside the top-1000 to the top-350 in the ATP rankings, thanks to a semi-final showing in Delray Beach, and second round appearances in Indian Wells and Miami. Those runs included two top-40 wins over No30 Jeremy Chardy and No39 Guido Pella.
The good news for Del Potro is that his serve and forehand appear to be as punishing as they’ve ever been. The bad news is that he seems hesitant to hit through his backhand, which requires him to utilise the left wrist which was operated on multiple times in the past 12 months. The 27-year-old has been opting for the backhand slice so far, which only requires him to use his right hand.
The obvious question is: can del Potro get back into the top-five without a solid backhand?
Someone like world No7 Tomas Berdych, who was pushed to a tiebreak in his first set against del Potro in the Indian Wells second round before he beat the Argentine in straights, questioned whether a player can be amongst the tennis elite without a strong backhand.
“When you look at the top guys, there (are) no signs of weakness from any of the sides,” Berdych pointed out.
It is true.
If you look at the players ranked in the top 30, Feliciano Lopez, the world No23, is probably the only player who regularly slices his backhand instead of hitting through it. The Spanish veteran was ranked as high as No12 in the world last season but his aggressive chip-and-charge game is not a typical one and while successful against many, it still gives him a 28.3 per cent success rate against top-10 opposition. Del Potro acknowledges that he still has a long way to go in order to stabilise his left wrist and be confident enough to hit the double-handed backhand. Would he have been better off delaying his return until he could execute it properly?
Considering how many times Del Potro has been injured and has come back to the circuit, he is the best one to judge whether this was the right moment to return.
For now, let’s just put on our “Everybody loves DelPo” shirts and enjoy having him back on tour. Time will tell if he can recover his top-five form.
