One of his famous rivals faced the full power of Roger Federer when they competed for the Rotterdam ATP Title. In the end the Swiss master had too much for Juan Martin Del Potro. The final score was 6-1 and 6-4. By all accounts it was a comprehensive victory despite the fact that Juan is a particularly good player with Grand Slam credentials. You will remember him as the man who came from a set down to beat Federer in the final of the US Open. At that point we did not know that it would be a very long time indeed before the former Number 1 won another Grand Slam title. There was no let up in the final as the older player worked his younger opponent into submission.
Contrasting styles and acumen
If you are basing on power and size, Juan is the outright winner. He has an amazing reach and powerful forehands. His worst enemy is slow and awkward movement. On the other hand Roger Federer is a smooth operator with no obvious deficiencies. Nevertheless he can be completely overpowered by someone like Rafael Nadal or even Novak Djokovic of recent. Perhaps the Rotterdam ATP Title will give him all the confidence he needs in order to fight for the Olympics which are due to take place later this year in London. Amazingly this is the first title for the former number one. He has fallen way behind the top two and is now competing with the journeyman that is Andy Murray. Maybe the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament is a great way to start just before the hard court season takes its swing into the USA.
In the first set, the top seed had a 5-0 lead which meant that Juan Martin Del Potro was in danger of eating that dreaded bagel set. He managed to save face with a single game. In the second set the 2009 US Open Champion was leading 2-1 before Roger Federer started to win games in quick succession. In the end he closed it out at 6-4. This was a comfortable victory especially considering the type of player that he was facing. On the other hand the skeptics will still say that Juan is just coming back from a long injury and is not quite up to his old standards. The real tests for this champion are coming ahead when he is not the top seed and has to face the wrath of the top four competitors in the sport at the moment.
