LOS ANGELES — Juan Martin Del Potro says that if he hadn’t gone into the tennis business, he might have been an architect. And, certainly, no one can knock the structural integrity of the 6-foot-5 Argentine’s run through the draw at the Aug. 4-10 Countrywide Classic at UCLA, where he didn’t drop a set all week en route to the first hard-court title of his young career.
The rangy righthander came into the final against Andy Roddick riding a 13-match winning streak that enveloped a pair of clay-court titles in Stuttgart and Kitzbuhel, and had so impressed the likes of ESPN analyst Darren Cahill that the former Hewitt/Agassi mentor insisted The Towering Terror from Tandill (the same hometown as fellow ATPers Mariano Zabaleta, Juan Monaco and Diego Junqueira) has the elite stuff to crack the top 10 — sooner rather than later.
With a decisive 6-1, 7-6(2) win over Roddick, Del Potro upped his run to 14 consecutive wins and three straight ATP titles.
“I was playing very good on clay courts and now I won here on hard courts — my confidence is very, very high,” said Del Potro, who rose to a career-high No. 19.
“He’s full of confidence — that’s for sure,” said Roddick. “Any ball he gets hanging in the middle of the court, he can take his forehand this way and that way. If you give him time, he’s able to dominate rallies.”
Del Potro, 19, is part of a trifecta of sub-20-year-olds who have infiltrated the top 40, joining Croat Marin Cilic (No. 32) and Latvian Ernests Gulbis (No. 38), all of whom have their own architectural blueprints for Grand Slam grandeur.
“The biggest thing is that these guys are huge,” said Roddick. “I remember I was big once upon a time.”
“Those guys are way bigger than I am at 26,” echoed Mardy Fish, who was rolled by Del Potro in the Countrywide semis 6-2, 6-1. “They certainly don’t look and act like they’re 19. Every one of those guys is probably 6-foot-5 [actually, Gulbis is “only” 6-foot-3]. They have huge games. I think 19 is a bit of a stretch as far as how mature they are already. Juan looks like he’s 25. He has huge game [and] can play on any surface.”
The way JMDP came out against Roddick, you wouldn’t have known it was his first hard-court final. He was on from the very start, breaking Roddick in the first game of the match, which was no small feat considering that the hard-serving Texan hadn’t faltered with his biggest weapon even once in reaching the final, holding all 24 service games and saving nine break points. But Del Potro was quick in setting the tone, dictating play from the baseline, out-hitting Roddick from the forehand side and allowing his opponent just four points total over the first four games of the match. So frustrated was A-Rod that he smashed his racket in the fifth game and was promptly slapped with a code violation.
“The first set, he just played lights out,” said Roddick, who managed to fight off only one of the four break-point chances he faced on the afternoon. “I could have played really well and I’m not sure it would have mattered.”
Roddick put the lopsided first set behind him and stepped it up in the second. There were no breaks-of-serve as the pair went toe-to-toe in setting the table for a second-set tiebreak. It was there that Del Potro extinguished Roddick’s hopes for a third set when, deadlocked at 2-2, he forced A-Rod into a forehand error. With the mini-break in hand, Del Potro never looked back.
“I’m very happy to beat Andy here because he’s one of the best players on this surface,” Del Potro said. “His serve is very complicated to break, but today I did everything good. I didn’t give him any chances.”
It now looks as if Del Potro will further expand the rich tradition of Argentinean tennis, which continues to churn out top, multi-surface achievers. He says he’s inspired by his fellow countrymen who have come before him — Nalbandian, Coria, Canas, Gaudio, Acasuso, Calleri, etc. — and hopes to follow in their footsteps. It’s a solid foundation to build upon. Just the job for a budding architect.
