After Federer, I just love this man’s game. He has a lethal forehand which is the best today in sport even better than Federer. He can just make mincemeat of the best players on his day and the way he pummelled Nadal at the US Open still stands in my memory. More so the sportsmanship qualities he displays makes him a true sportsman. He is just one of the few who smiles in defeat and congratulates opponents shot. He exchanges pleasantaries with his opponents even after a defeat and acknowledges the cheers of the crowd. All in all, he is a man to emulate. But, I am afraid that he is often injury prone and that may play spoilsport to his potentially very bright career ahead when I automatically pick him to win many more grand slams. First and foremost he needs to develop his stamina to outlast in five setters. All this means that he has got a big task ahead to develop his physique and make it more metal. He needs to spend a lot of time in gyms apart from Tennis. Anyway wish him all the best and a speedy recovery. I hope to see him full and fit very soon.

February 11th, 2010 at 11:57 pm

ATP and WTA Tennis = Survival of the Healthiest?

February 12th, 2010 at 12:04 am

I fear this may be par for the course with del potro; he’s retired from a fair number of matches over the years due to injury, and he’s taken a few hiatuses too, since turning pro. It would be a shame if injuries keep him from realizing his obvious potential! Wish him the best.

February 12th, 2010 at 1:00 am

I hope he recovers soon.

He’s a remarkable player, with real fighting spirit. A pure-hearted competitor, he said after the semifinal against Federer at the French Open that his ambition was “to be the idol of the crowd, like Roger was today,” it has always stuck in my mind. His shots are powerful and accurate, the biggest forehand of anyone on the men’s side.

I think his game is best suited to faster surfaces because the points are shorter and the ball moves quicker. At a place like AO, it takes more effort for him to hit through the court. His shots are so powerful that it’s almost impossible to defend against them, but he expends a lot of energy in the process.

February 12th, 2010 at 5:12 am

I’m sad for Delpo. This injury looks like it just doesn’t wanna go away, but I think he’s doing the right thing by taking time off even though his ranking might slip a bit.

Look, I like Delpo a lot, probably he’s the one I root for the most after Roger, but CAN EVERYONE PLEASE JUST STOP STAYING THAT DELPO’S FOREHAND IS BETTER THAN FED’S!!!!!!

There’s more to a forehand than just the mere power it produces. Delpo’s forehand right now is indeed more forceful than Fed’s, but that does not make it better. Delpo can’t hit take the ball on the rise as well as Fed does. Delpo can’t hit his forehand running forwards as he does when he’s moving side to side. Delpo can’t volley as well as Fed on the forehand side. Delpo doesn’t have a forehand dropshot like the one Fed has. Delpo’s forehand is must better on offense than on defense. He doesn’t have Fed’s ability to change from a defensive position to an offensive with one stroke. And last but certainly not least, Delpo doesn’t have anywhere near the versatility that Fed has in terms of spins and angles. So please stop comparing Fed’s forehand to Delpo’s.

February 12th, 2010 at 7:51 am

I agree… Federers forehand is the best in the game… not because of power but many reasons… Kimo, I would like to add that Federer is able to attack the ball with a few steps forward so that he can steal a second from the opponent.

February 12th, 2010 at 8:54 am

Kimo: You’re right about Federer’s FH, though I have to say, it’s not what it once used to be (once = 2003-2006)…

Anyhow, Fed must be certainly in heaven now ;-) Nadal out, JMDP out, Murray maybe not out but figured out, Djoker fighting runs and his own fragile temperament, Davy still choking in big matches… Looking pretty good for TMF, isn’t it? But who knows? Maybe Cilic will fill the void? I, for one, certainly hope so…

February 12th, 2010 at 9:47 am

JMDP reminds me of Rafa personality-wise. He has the same focus and will. He seems mellower though, less intense. I am not sure I agree that his game is more suited to faster surfaces; so far, he has done better on clay than on grass. Last year he was close to ousting Fed at the French. So he is no slouch on what has traditionally been the slowest surface. Though a lot of faster surface players did better than normal at the French last year: Soderling, Roddick, Tsonga, Murray all did pretty well there in 09.

February 12th, 2010 at 9:57 am

having now watched the AO final v Murray more times than i will admit- i agree with NachoF about fed’s forehand and attacking style. also, when federer’s first serve is on, or it is reliable enough on the must win points, games, tiebreakers – forget it.

delpo got to fed. fed was serving poorly the entire match but after delpo took a set the shanks were all everywhere. the ue count was sky high. fed put up the best he he had that day last sept. but delpo was able to over power fed.

but delpo has to have a healthy right wrist, no doubt. i hope he takes a nice long rest until he can come out playing like we know he can, even if it means two months rest and a drop in rankings. i hope to see him at his best by clay court season and aim for the FO final.

February 12th, 2010 at 9:59 am

Even though much has been said about this already, but Fed’s fitness is unmatched despite the fact that he is a lot older (in tennis terms) then his main rivals.

I mean, even though the Fed exerted more effort than anyone else since he, you know, won the whole thing, so far he isn’t complaining about an injury or about mental fatigue.

February 12th, 2010 at 12:20 pm

Kimo… One difference (to me, anyway) is that some of these younger guys treat tennis like it’s their job. Roger said he just LOVE the sport. Even when he’s not playing, he’s at home watching it. BUT…and here’s the main thing to me – Roger manages his calendar carefully. He doesn’t over-play too much, he takes breaks throughout the year and he comes back to tennis fresh.

Maybe the youngsters can learn (or need to learn) how to do that. Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Del Potro – all of them need to tweak their calendars so that they are not playing 5-6 tournaments in a row without a break. They are young, but if they continue to ‘break down’ their body, who knows how long they will be able to stick around in the game. After the AO, Roger said his body felt great. But he’s also taking a trip to Africa for his foundation before he plays his next tournament. Roger said he’s ready for his next tournament (mentally and physically) – and this is the ‘old man’ at 28 (soon to be 29 this year).

February 12th, 2010 at 2:51 pm

The basic mechanics of DelPo’s forehand reminds me of Fed’s. They take a smooth, high to low circular backswing and their contact point is way out in front of them. Also, they tend to hit straight through the ball, turning their wrist over as they make contact to generate topsin. This produces the characteristic across the body follow through. When they need more topsin they used the high follow through. You can contrast that with a Nadal or Murray who prefer a high follow through for extra topsin and control. Justin Gimmelstob described Murray’s forehand as “loopy”. Nadal’s can be real extreme where the follow through is over and behind his head in a circular motion. Roddick said he “bullies” the ball. That’s where that bulging left arm bicep comes from.(notice Fed’s arm above the elbow is very skinny because he doesn’t muscle the ball with his arm) I would think either Nadal or Murray would get a wrist injury before DelPo based on their technic, but of course there are so many variables to consider. Now that I think of it Murray did have a wrist injury a few years ago.

February 12th, 2010 at 6:31 pm

If you look at Delpos age and consider how much tennis he has allready been putting in, with his a bit slender frame, this mig$ht be a good thing. In the same way Murray injured his wrist and really had to start thinking about taing care of the limbs, I am sure JM will just get wiser from this. Afterall, even if he stayed out the whole year he has the time to do great things out there. Maybe not match Mr. Monster or even close, but great things all the less. So get well, I for once can a wait a while if that just makes sure I can see those bombers again.

February 13th, 2010 at 6:09 am

It seems a lot of the top players are getting injured, in-spite being supposedly at their physical peak.

Once Federer started beating everyone left , right and center, the field realized that the only way to put up a respectable fight or win was to push your body to the limits, either running and retrieving or hitting shots that were not physically friendly.
In the process, few of these won a few critical matches, some fought hard without luck and some did get lucky at times.
The more a guy tried to fight Federer, irrespective of the result, the worse they had to physically abuse themselves in the process.

-Nadal fought successfully, however physically is battered.
-Del potro won a slam against Federer and has been injured for some time now
-Hewitt & Marat Safin fought hard with Fed and are now fighting with injuries or retired
-Roddick was also injured after the 2009 Wimby final
-After the AO final, Murray has also withdrawn from tournaments, he is either physically or mentally injured.

Federer seems to designed by nature to play tennis.Maybe his physique, reflexes, strength, natural limb movements and other genetic,physical and mental aspects are more suitable to tennis than anyone else.

And as we all know,anyone who fights against nature has to pay a price and so they pay.

It amuses me that at 28, we have big army of youngsters fighting to take the spot from Federer.However most of them seem to be injured more often than not. Reminds me of scenes from from movies where a bunch of bad-guys corner superman and next thing we know, superman is high in the sky while the other guys are lying injured.

February 13th, 2010 at 7:06 pm

Hope to see Del Po back on the courts soon.

February 14th, 2010 at 3:15 am