A hand-painted sign in Juan Martin del Potro’s hometown of Tandil summed it up: “Welcome to the capital of tennis.”
Del Potro’s upset victory over Roger Federer in Monday’s US Open final has put the Argentine city of 150,000 — in the foothills of a lowly mountainous area 400km south of Buenos Aires — on the map.
It has also brought attention to the club Independiente de Tandil, where Del Potro switched to tennis after growing up playing soccer, rugby union and basketball.
Marcelo Gomez, who taught Del Potro how to grip a racket and coached him until two years ago, said Del Potro used to walk by the club’s tennis courts on his way soccer matches. Eventually, he decided to give tennis a shot.
“Even then you could tell he had nerves of steel and great strengths,” Gomez said. “His desire, his power and his concentration made me think that this child was going to stand out in tennis just like he did in soccer. He always wanted to play against others three or four years older — and he’d win. He is mentally very strong and that’s why he beat Federer.”
Because of his height and relative lack of mobility, Gomez said Del Potro worked on finishing off points quickly.
“He always played aggressively,” Gomez said. “His size was going to limit his movement, so he always thought about the quick, hard-court game. His dream was the US Open.”
Everyone around the club seems to know Del Potro.
“I played 1,000 times against him and only won once,” said Bernardo Caballero, a tennis teacher at Independiente. “He was so angry. He never liked to lose, he was so competitive.”
Perhaps the proudest person at the club is its president, Horacio Morrone.
“I watched him since he was young,” Morrone said. “He was talented in soccer despite his height. He was a great goalscorer. If Juan Martin had stayed with soccer, he’d be a Maradona or Pele.”
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