"A man of his country" says Mats Wilander on Juan Martin Del Potro

Juan Martin Del Potro played and lost his first-round match at the Buenos Aires Open with the match probably his final in his career.

Many tennis greats have paid respect to Del Potro and what he did in tennis despite a career that has been largely plagued by injuries. Mats Wilander was one of those who closely followed the match and the Swede was left impressed by how much Del Potro meant to his fellow Argentinians. He said:

“The first feeling I actually had was how big he is in Argentina and his home country. Obviously having Guillermo Vilas come from there, Gabriela Sabatini, both Grand Slam former champions… Juan Martin del Potro seems to be more loved somehow."

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The he praised him for what he was able to achieve:

“When you look at his resume, you realise that, of course, he won the US Open in 2009, beating [Rafa] Nadal in the semis, [Roger] Federer in the final, it was unbelievable. But then he also won the Davis Cup for Argentina, the only time they won that, and then he was a silver and a bronze medalist in the Olympics. So he was really a man of his country."

Wilander further said:

“Juan Martin del Potro, he really should have been one out of the Big Five. To me, it’s not the Big Three… it could be the Big Four with Andy Murray and, to me, Del Potro would have qualified as part of the Big Five. He would have won way more than he did should he have been healthy.”