It was the kind of the moment that sums up the character, charm and popularity of the big man from Argentina, Juan Martin del Potro.
It was midway through a high-tempo, high-octane quarter-final match at the Shanghai Masters, and Del Potro and his opponent, Nicolas Almagro, were showing just why fast, slick courts on a hot, humid evening can be such a thrilling spectacle in these days of slow courts and gruelling baseline rallies.
Del Potro is a man who can generate more flat speed off a forehand than almost anyone in tennis. It is a jaw-dropping shot that, back in 2009, denied Roger Federer the US Open title and has since prised open the game of many more great players.
The Argentine’s match against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-finals this year may have been the most memorable of the tournament—a near-five-hour feast which showed that Del Potro is not just a big hitter but an impressive mover for such a big man. What’s more, recurrent wrist injuries have, of necessity, helped him hone a fine single-handed backhand slice—a valuable defensive weapon used to build an opening for that forehand to do its work.
He is still the only man not named Federer, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray to have won a Grand Slam since 2005, and in the latter stages of 2013, he had edged back at No5 in the world, a ranking he last reached before wrist surgery at the start of 2010. So he arrived in Shanghai on the back of a Tokyo title and on the cusp of qualification for the ATP World Tour Finals.
In Almagro, however, he faced an inconsistent but dangerous man from a very rare Spanish mould: an attacking player with a killer single-handed backhand.
The glowering Spaniard has resided inside the top 20 for more than three years, broke the top 10 in 2011, when he very nearly qualified for the World Tour Finals. He ended 2012 at No11 but now entered the Shanghai Masters ranked 16, his lowest ranking in three years.
Yet he still had an eye on the big prize, a place in London this November, and was using the pace of these courts the only way he knows how: Stepping in, hitting early, hitting big. They were tactics that scored an impressive win in a final-set tie-break against another formidable, big-hitting man, Tomas Berdych, and he was trying the same against Del Potro.
Despite playing bold, aggressive tennis in the opening set, however, he had come off the worse, 6-3. He struck more aces, but had managed not a break point against the Argentine’s serve nor scored a point off Del Potro’s first serve.
Now it was the third game of the second set. Almagro won the first point on the Argentine’s serve with a crowd-pleasing off-forehand winner. But in the blink of an eye, he was 30-15 down in the face of two winning serves.
Then he got a look at a second serve. He stepped inside the baseline and hit three terrific angled shots to force Del Potro on the defensive. The Spaniard’s chance, though, was snatched away in gut-wrenching style when a Del Potro forehand clipped the net cord, shot vertically upwards and dropped like a stone on Almagro’s side. The Spaniard’s legs pumped forward but he had no chance, and his demeanour, dour at the best of times, looked like thunder as he leaned on the net, crossed his legs and sank his head.
But the crowd’s gasps of disbelief rose to a roar and Almagro lifted his head to find out why. It was Del Potro striding, in characteristic languorous style, towards the net. Their eyes met, and even Almagro could not hold back a smile as the Argentine reached an arm around his shoulder.
Their heads dipped together before they wordlessly parted to continue battle—but it was the kind of gesture that has made Del Potro a favourite not just with fans but with fellow players.
During that loss to Djokovic at Wimbledon, Del Potro high-fived spectators, engaged humorously with the line-judges and, after what must have been a hugely disappointing loss, said of his opponent: “When [Djokovic] fell, I was worried. He is my opponent, but also is my friend.”
In Basel last year, he talked of the friendship shown to him home favourite Federer: “It is always a pleasure to face him…Roger is really one of my best friends in the circuit.”
After losing to John Isner in Cincinnati this year, he said: “He’s a nice guy, nice player. He deserved to be in the final.”
And after playing Andy Roddick in his last match at Flushing Meadows, the American summed up the actions of Del Potro in giving centre stage to his opponent: “I don’t think you’ll find someone that doesn’t like him or doesn’t think he’s a class act. I thought he handled it great. I’m thankful to him for that.”
As Federer tweeted this week: “@delpotrojuan is the man”
It is a special individual who can command such affection and show such respect yet remain ruthless in match-play. Although Del Potro took a 40-15 lead with his ‘net-cord incident’, Almagro took the game to deuce with one of his cracking forehands. But all the Argentine’s skills—big serve, sliced backhand, and then the signature running cross-court forehand—quickly took control, and he held.
As if to press home his superiority, he played a magical backhand lob followed by a forehand winner on the first point of fourth game. Almagro held serve for the moment, but it became a losing battle in the face of the power, speed, defence and patience of the Argentine. Almagro could only shake his head as another running forehand zipped past him, and then saw a backhand pass him up the line.
It was not, though, a big forehand but the most deft of short backhand slices that brought Del Potro a break point in the crucial eighth game, and a top-spin backhand drew a Spanish error for the break.
Perhaps appropriately, it would be a forehand winner that ended the match with a love hold of serve, 6-3, and would leave Del Potro needing just one more match-win to take him to London.
The popular Argentine was runner-up at the World Tour Finals in 2009 and will be a force to be reckoned with if—when—he makes his fourth visit next month.
And whether he plays Nadal or Stanislas Wawrinka in the Shanghai semis, the home crowd will welcome him with open arms.