After 2009 US Open final, would you have predicted:

[InsideOut900]

delpo would have a shot at USO 13 vs nadal/djoko
a lesser shot, but still a shot at USO 15 djoko/fed

a shot vs nadal of USO 10 as well
USO 16 - assuming still in prime form, I'd favour him over Stan/djoko

basically the only year I don't give a decent shot at the USO is 2011 - he's not getting past that version of djoker.

RG - I'd give him some chance at beating 14 RG nadal
and assuming a 7 year prime span at RG, 15 is still a decent shot for him ...

Not that Del Potro doesn't have a great peak to face/beat all this guys, but I don't think he plays so well so consistently. He is not Djokovic/Fed/Nadal in this regard.
And after 3-4 years at the very top he will start to burn out somehow, even if he still fights for big titles.

I don't give him chances against 2010 Nadal at USO, I will say it straight away. The guy was ripping his groundies and moving/serving like their is no other day.
Don't think he is winning RG. Of course 2014 Nadal is kind of underrated on clay.
Stan was as good as any Del Potro. Would you say for sure Del Potro brings his 2009 form at RG 2015?

USO will be his tournament. Weakest Slam of the 4 during last 6-7 years and also conditions that favour Del Potro and yet again winning 1 USO during 2012-2016 would still take a great effort.

 

[-snake-]

If you remove Djokovic and Nadal yeah, but that would be nonsense.

Yeah, 2010 Nole was such an unbeatable beast . Nadal always had issues with the consistent big hitters.

 

[Gazelle]

Safin was quite fit though IIRC when he started accruing injuries.

Descent stamina and speed back in the day but he walked on chicken legs...which was his undoing.

 

[metsman]

If you remove Djokovic and Nadal yeah, but that would be nonsense.

If Delpo had stayed healthy I think it's hard to see him not winning at least one more USO and out of all the guys, he definitely would have been the most capable of taking out Nadal on clay in a weaker year for Nadal (any year but 2010 and 2012 basically). Yes it sounds impossible, but Soderling showed us it was not if Nadal was a little diminished defensively, which he definitely was in some of those years and Delpo would be the only one capable of producing that kind of performance. Delpo is a bad matchup for Nadal, gave him a tough one in Davis cup on clay when he was on his injury comeback and as a baby he very nearly took the first set against peak Nadal in 2007 at RG. On grass, if you combine his serve and grass game from post-surgery years with his young athleticism, he could have been a contender as well.

 

[Bukmeikara]

Andy Roddick was number 1 at 21 with Us Open title behind his back. I imagine in some other universe he retired at that point people would give him 3-4-5 titles at least. In our universe he kept on playing and we saw how difficult is to win even one more. Del Potro was great, he had potential to be number 1 but in the end he had a lot work in front of him and saying that he is better than Wawrinka is probably far fetched. Most important part of tennis is mentality and Del Potro more often than not lost tight matches at bigger stages. Federer with his variety would probably always have the upper hand in their rivalry, his raw power matches better with Djokovic/Nadal but the later two are just mental beasts whom are able to figth till the very end, somehow I believe that more often than not they would outlast Del Potro in their encounters.

Other thing to consider is that no south american has won more than 3-4 Slams. It was expected from Coria, it was expected from Nalbandian and they didn't deliver and in some cases they showed even more promice than Del Potro. Juan is still young and maybe he has few magical runs left in him ..

 

[KINGROGER]

Also a healthy Murray would problably have a Becker-esque career in accomplishments with even more consistency and winning some Slams in weak 2014-15 period, he was closing heavily the gap by Wimbledon 2013 and by some people he was the de-facto N°1 at that point with 3 of the 6 biggest titles in those 12 months (USO, WB and Olympics), then the back basically gave up and needed surgery, that affected mighty his ability to beat Djokovic in a consistent basis as pre-surgery Andy did.

The only thing an in form Murray might have done is take out Nole for Fed at Wimbledon 2014, leaving an easy 3-4 sets win in the final for Fed to get his 8th Wimbledon.

 

[abmk]

Not that Del Potro doesn't have a great peak to face/beat all this guys, but I don't think he plays so well so consistently. He is not Djokovic/Fed/Nadal in this regard.
And after 3-4 years at the very top he will start to burn out somehow, even if he still fights for big titles.

I don't give him chances against 2010 Nadal at USO, I will say it straight away. The guy was ripping his groundies and moving/serving like their is no other day.
Don't think he is winning RG. Of course 2014 Nadal is kind of underrated on clay.
Stan was as good as any Del Potro. Would you say for sure Del Potro brings his 2009 form at RG 2015?

USO will be his tournament. Weakest Slam of the 4 during last 6-7 years and also conditions that favour Del Potro and yet again winning 1 USO during 2012-2016 would still take a great effort.

USO 10 rafa wasn't tested vs : a) big serving b) big hitting ...both of which delpo can do/did. rafa's returning wasn't even tested at that USO.I give delpo a legit shot.

I say delpo takes atleast 1 more USO.

might pick up one more slam - at USO/RG ....(RG in 14/15)

He's not as consistent as the top 4, but still more consistent than almost anyone else at bringing his A game in big matches.

Obviously, I can't say he would bring 09 RG form to 15 , but he would need to in order to beat Stan...

All in all, overall I think he has atleast 2 slams ...maybe 3 and if lucky 4.

 

[pc1]

USO 10 rafa wasn't tested vs : a) big serving b) big hitting ...both of which delpo can do/did. rafa's returning wasn't even tested at that USO.I give delpo a legit shot.

I say delpo takes atleast 1 more USO.

might pick up one more slam - at USO/RG ....(RG in 14/15)

He's not as consistent as the top 4, but still more consistent than almost anyone else at bringing his A game in big matches.

Obviously, I can't say he would bring 09 RG form to 15 , but he would need to in order to beat Stan...

All in all, overall I think he has atleast 2 slams ...maybe 3 and if lucky 4.

Delpo has such a flat game but it's also so powerful. After that US Open I would have figured him for at least five majors and maybe more if he really developed. I would have thought the big four would have been the big five.

Guess I was wrong. He's still one of my favorite players.

 

[abmk]

Delpo has such a flat game but it's also so powerful. After that US Open I would have figured him for at least five majors and maybe more if he really developed. I would have thought the big four would have been the big five.

Guess I was wrong. He's still one of my favorite players.

yeah, sure as hell looked like a multi-slam winner ...

 

[metsman]

Andy Roddick was number 1 at 21 with Us Open title behind his back. I imagine in some other universe he retired at that point people would give him 3-4-5 titles at least. In our universe he kept on playing and we saw how difficult is to win even one more. Del Potro was great, he had potential to be number 1 but in the end he had a lot work in front of him and saying that he is better than Wawrinka is probably far fetched. Most important part of tennis is mentality and Del Potro more often than not lost tight matches at bigger stages. Federer with his variety would probably always have the upper hand in their rivalry, his raw power matches better with Djokovic/Nadal but the later two are just mental beasts whom are able to figth till the very end, somehow I believe that more often than not they would outlast Del Potro in their encounters.

Other thing to consider is that no south american has won more than 3-4 Slams. It was expected from Coria, it was expected from Nalbandian and they didn't deliver and in some cases they showed even more promice than Del Potro. Juan is still young and maybe he has few magical runs left in him ..

Who would have played Federer to Roddick's Delpo? I don't see anyone in the field who would have been a matchup of death for Delpo. Also, Delpo was more complete than Roddick.

Also Delpo has two very major things that Coria and Nalbandian lack, a good serve and power. Without those two things it's extremely extremely difficult to win a major. Also Delpo showed more mental strength at 20 than the two of them combined, so I'd say Delpo showed way more promise because his game actually translated to being a consistent slam threat as opposed to Nalbandian's who had a beautiful game and amazing feel for the ball but lacked the key capabilities necessary to win a slam. Similar deal to Rios.

 

[Bukmeikara]

Who would have played Federer to Roddick's Delpo? I don't see anyone in the field who would have been a matchup of death for Delpo. Also, Delpo was more complete than Roddick.

Also Delpo has two very major things that Coria and Nalbandian lack, a good serve and power. Without those two things it's extremely extremely difficult to win a major. Also Delpo showed more mental strength at 20 than the two of them combined, so I'd say Delpo showed way more promise because his game actually translated to being a consistent slam threat as opposed to Nalbandian's who had a beautiful game and amazing feel for the ball but lacked the key capabilities necessary to win a slam. Similar deal to Rios.

Federer would be a nightmare for Del Potro. I say he would win around 75-80% of the matches between them. At 21, both Nalbandian and Coria had similar results like Del Potro and the later missed one year because of a suspension. And what exactly is mental strength because Juan Martin surely has not won that many tight matches to be considered above the average. Sure he has power and serve but that is not a guarantee for success. Tsonga, Berdych and Cilic all had power+ early success like Del Potro and after that they didn't make the next step.

I agree that Del Po would have been the one to watch in 2010 but the phenomenal 2009 he had it's not a guarantee for big succes after that just look at Chang or again .. Roddick because Andy had near identical career trajectory + more success + home advantage in a lot of tournaments and yet he couldn't overcome his one demon...

 

[metsman]

Federer would be a nightmare for Del Potro. I say he would win around 75-80% of the matches between them. At 21, both Nalbandian and Coria had similar results like Del Potro and the later missed one year because of a suspension. And what exactly is mental strength because Juan Martin surely has not won that many tight matches to be considered above the average. Sure he has power and serve but that is not a guarantee for success. Tsonga, Berdych and Cilic all had power+ early success like Del Potro and after that they didn't make the next step.

I agree that Del Po would have been the one to watch in 2010 but the phenomenal 2009 he had it's not a guarantee for big succes after that just look at Chang or again .. Roddick because Andy had near identical career trajectory + more success + home advantage in a lot of tournaments and yet he couldn't overcome his one demon...

peak Federer yes, post prime Federer? Hell no.

Delpo is more talented and well rounded than either Chang or Roddick. Again, there is no peak Federer like there was with Roddick. Nadal/Djokovic are great but they are not there at every single slam at every turn like Fed was from Roddick. Also they do have some weaknesses against big hitters, especially ones that are well rounded. Peak Federer's weaknesses unless you were Nadal or a truly transcendent player like peak Safin were just not exploitable. Everything was on his terms.