Juan Martin del Potro and Svetlana Kuznetsova fail to clear International Tennis Hall of Fame induction threshold

Thursday, 20 November 2025 at 10:20

While Roger Federer was confirmed to be entered into the International Tennis Hall of Fame today, the same couldn't be said for certain names who were also nominated in Svetlana Kuznetsova and Juan Martin del Potro.

There is a 75% threshold for induction and it wasn't reached by Kuznetsova and Del Potro. The former is a four-time major champion with two titles apiece in singles and doubles. She won 2004 US Open and 2009 Roland Garros and doubles titles at the Australian Open. She also reached an additional two major finals. During her 15-year-career, she won 18 WTA singles ttiels and 16 in doubles and reached World No.2 in singles.

Juan Martin del Potro was the 2009 US Open men's singles champion and won a further 22 titles overall in his career. While still a teenager, he won four singles titles in a 23-match winning streak.

But both were eligible for the first time this year to get into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Albeit both weren't added into the line-up as a result of the latest ballot results with the vast majority needing to add them in and with Roger Federer standing out this year as a major name, it was likely he received most of the votes.

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Only a few names are first ballot Hall of Famers and that is now Federer. These include Amelie Mauresmo, Justine Henin, Marat Safin, Kim Clijsters, Andy Roddick, Michael Stich, Li Na, Lleyton Hewitt, Leander Paes, Bob and Mike Bryan and Maria Sharapova.

Others such as Mary Pierce, Goran Ivanisevic, Conchita Martinez took more than one try while Pat Cash, Thomas Muster, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Ana Ivanovic, Flavia Pennetta, Daniel Nestor among others have never been inducted mostly through three tries.

It can be multiple inductees in a single year with the Bryan Brothers and Sharapova in last time out. But also if not voted in the three times you have to wait two years before being eligible again and with Rafael Nadal among others to come, the likelihood of smaller names but ones that have still accrued Grand Slams getting in as a result is very much finite.

Albeit Mary Carillo did also get in as another inductee this year as a contributor to the sport albeit of course is not on this list as she is not a player.

Ben Rothenberg

@BenRothenberg

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News: Roger Federer was voted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, but the other two nominees in the recent player category—Svetlana Kuznetsova and Juan Martin del Potro—did not clear the 75% threshold for induction. Mary Carillo was voted in as a contributor.

3:06 PM · Nov 19, 2025

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