Other than his victory at the 2009 U.S. Open, the highlight of Juan Martin del Potro’s tennis career may have been his run to the silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero. Coming back from injuries and ranked No. 141 on the ATP computer, del Potro, the bronze medalist at the 2012 Olympic Games, drew world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the opening round, the same player he beat for the bronze four years earlier.
The following is the excerpt from the book “Juan Martin del Potro: The Gentle Giant” by Argentine journalist Sebastian Torok (for sale and download here https://a.co/d/9zqMxmt) that describes his incredible Olympic run.
“Going to the Olympic Games in Rio is an award that I give to myself after so much effort and for having managed to return,” said Juan Martín.
Astonishingly, del Potro drew world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the first round, a rematch of their bronze medal match from the 2012 Olympics in London.
“Well, I’m going to tell my friends to prepare the barbecue for Monday night,” del Potro said to his inner circle, with humor, on the tall prospect playing the dominant Djokovic, who had just completed a sweep of all four Grand Slam tournament titles in a 12-month period by winning the French Open two months earlier.
In a clash of the highest level, del Potro shocked the tennis world by upsetting Djokovic 7-6(4), 7-6(2) in two hours and 27 minutes. The Serbian did not travel to one of the most festive corners of South America to simply dance samba. Even if there were no ATP points awarded in Rio, Djokovic was seeking the title that was missing from his brilliant career: the Olympic gold medal. Djokovic’s disconsolate crying when leaving the central court of Barra da Tijuca was a symbol of his immense disappointment. Del Potro had guts and never gave up. He hit demolishing serves at 130 mph. There were no service breaks, but the Argentine had seven break point opportunities. He turned a deaf ear and nothing took him out of focus, not even the Brazilian fans cheering Djokovic’s points as if they were goals from Pelé or Neymar.
“I find it hard to believe what I achieved,” del Potro said in the mixed zone following the upset victory. “I just didn’t want Djokovic to beat me badly. It was a disappointment when I saw the draw, but I’m learning that things happen for a reason.” Del Potro’s voice was breaking and he showed great strength in holding back tears.
As if it had been necessary to add a bit more drama to del Potro’s day, it started when he was locked in an elevator in the Olympic Village for 40 minutes. A power outage caused him to be trapped and was out of communication with a mobile phone signal. Unable to do anything, he sat on the floor, resigned, until members of the Argentine handball team managed to rescue him. In 2009, during the Australian Open, del Potro suffered a similar panic. It was at night and the Tandilian returned to the five-star hotel in Melbourne where he was staying, pressed the button on the 28th floor and suddenly the light went off, the system was cut off, an explosion was heard. Desperate, he made calls and they eventually were able to get him out….two-and-a-half hours later. His rescuers had to destroy the roof of the elevator car to pull him out.
“I was stuck, without light, and the emergency button was not on,” said del Potro of his Australian Open elevator odyssey. “Nobody answered. My voice broke. I ran out of air. I thought I was dying.”
This new frightening experience, but in Brazil, could have knocked him out of focus, but Juan Martín took it as a new obstacle to avoid, something he was used to.
“What happened to Juan in the elevator in Rio is very psychological,” said Patricia Wightman, head of the Department of Psychology of the National Center of High Performance Sports (CeNARD) and present in Rio during the Olympic Games. “It could have generated a panic attack or have awakened the tiger, as it finally happened. In that place, Juan reacted with anger and that helped him. He has a maximum reference, which is God. He always crosses himself. He is a boy with an important spirituality. Here the Iceberg Theory applies very well: what is above the water is what is seen and what is below is the root. What is sought in an athlete is peace, ease and strength. And below, there is depression, fear, tension and confusion. In the case of Juan Martín, he managed to keep the energy that gave him the restraint.”
Following his emotional win over Djokovic, del Potro did not let down. He proceeded to beat Joao Sousa of Portugal, Taro Daniel of Japan, Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and, in another torrid performance, Rafael Nadal of Spain in the semifinals. In the final, which was a best-of-five-set affair, del Potro finally relented and lost to Andy Murray, the defending gold medalist, in a titanic four-set match 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in four hours and two minutes.
“I never cried so many times in so few days,” said del Potro of his eight-day run to the silver medal. “I’m going to my country with a medal. I left everything on the court. I did not have any toenails left. It was the most important week of my career, even higher than when I won the U.S. Open.”
During the Olympic award ceremony – the podium was completed by Kei Nishikori of Japan, who beat Nadal in the bronze-medal match – Murray said to del Potro, “You deserve it” of his accomplishment and his success, showing his maturity and forgetting their rivalry from the junior days that was not always pleasant.
The inspiring silver medal performance from del Potro at the Olympic Games made a huge impact in his home country. The television ratings were extremely high. Tennis fans followed closely as well as those who did not even know that tennis rackets had strings. It created excitement about tennis in Argentina and brought many people to start to play tennis again or to learn to play. The demand for tennis classes and the court rentals increased at least 30 percent following del Potro’s Olympic run. This sort of phenomenon was noticed, above all, in clubs that did not have membership but those who rented courts by the hour and offered open individual or group classes. The explosion occurred in Buenos Aires, but also in the interior of the country. It is true that the spring weather starting in September encourages gets more people to be active and participate in sports, but, following the inspirational achievement by del Potro in Rio, phone calls and emails into tennis facilities doubled. In several clubs, parents arrived with their children hand in hand explaining to the teachers, “My boy saw del Potro play and he wanted to start.”
With his Olympics over, del Potro returned to Argentina to be celebrated.
“Now I know that tennis was waiting for me,” del Potro said on Monday, August 8 in the halls of the InterContinental Hotel in Buenos Aires during his brief passage through the city. The next day, his hometown of Tandil received him as a true hero. Some 10,000 people populated Plaza Independencia and gave him a moving moment when he came out to greet his fans from the balcony of the Municipal Palace. This time there was no parade for him as they did in 2009 when he won the U.S. Open.
Del Potro was exhausted and wanted to avoid complications and uncontrollable crowds. But he did not stop shuddering. “Do not make me cry once again, enough tears,” he pleaded, when in front of the crowd the well-known local journalist Claudio Andiarena, acting as an announcer for the event, reminded him of the constant support of his parents while also mentioning his deceased sister. “Silver medal, heart of gold” was one of the many signs among the crowd of varied ages. As the Tandilians themselves recognize, the city tends to be somewhat cold and distant in terms of popular recognitions. However, at that time, it was paralyzed in celebration of their hometown hero’s performance at the Olympic Games.
When Juan Martín was playing the Olympic final, Tandil was almost completely transfixed on the match. Del Potro’s efforts inspired almost everyone in the town, especially the students of the San José school, the same one that he attended for many years.
“For the boys he became a giant,” said Beatriz Etcheber, del Potro’s teacher in sixth grade. “They saw him on TV. They saw him triumph. They saw his fighting spirit. Generally in the student’s notebooks, we have them write positive news of the day or good things that have happened, and many times they are about sports. And they have written about Juan Martín in their notebooks many times. The children are drawn tiny and Juan Martin is like giant next to him…There you realize how they see him… Huge, huge, huge. They drew pictures with tennis rackets even though they do not play tennis. That was part of the contagion. When I saw the drawings, I would say: ‘Ah, you are going to play tennis.’ However, the majority would tell me ‘No, but let’s go like Delpo.’ Imitation at that age is something magical. In the world we live in, with the kids stuck with computers, getting kids excited about sports is spectacular.”
