Gentle giant is back again in full form

tennisaddict

tennisaddict

Bionic Poster
del-potro-01_6.jpg



The gentle guy gave decent performances at Delray and IW. The FH looked solid but the movement was bad and BH shot was only used for chipping.

Solid performance to start Miami and he looked at ease on the court.

The tour better take note. He can play himself into form and he can get to top 8 before not too long.
 
beltsman

beltsman

G.O.A.T.
Means nothing until his BH is back to normal. I saw him hit a few 1HBH out of nowhere when he wasn't set up, and he sliced a ton. Definitely not back to normal but the FH is there. Should have switched to 1HBH long ago.
 
T

Tony48

Legend
Full form? No where near.

Federer is going to destroy him. His backhand is not nearly good enough to trouble anyone in the top 10.
 
Russeljones

Russeljones

Talk Tennis Guru
tennisaddict said:
del-potro-01_6.jpg



The gentle guy gave decent performances at Delray and IW. The FH looked solid but the movement was bad and BH shot was only used for chipping.

Solid performance to start Miami and he looked at ease on the court.

The tour better take note. He can play himself into form and he can get to top 8 before not too long.
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No.
 
DerekNoleFam1

DerekNoleFam1

Hall of Fame
Good to see him back, although it may take 12 months to get back to top 10 level, here's hoping he can - his hard hitting is a delight when in full flight.
 
metsman

metsman

G.O.A.T.
Zoolander said:
Good to see Delpo back!

If Lopez can slice his way into the top 20 so can Delpo. Whats the consensus on his racquet?
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lopez has better serve, movement, volleys, and a better slice. Hopefully Delpo can be more consistent to make up for those gaps.
 
tennis_pro

tennis_pro

Bionic Poster
He's playing top 30 tennis right now but not better due to his backhand and movement (both improving steadily). I like the man but Federer will straight set him in the 2nd round. Sucks that they have to face each other so early.
 
Mr.Lob

Mr.Lob

G.O.A.T.
Tony48 said:
Full form? No where near.

Federer is going to destroy him. His backhand is not nearly good enough to trouble anyone in the top 10.
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Yeah, Fed will be all over Delpos backhand AND the net after going to the backhand. Delpos serve and forehand looked great. Movement and fitness subpar, but can improve.

Delpos backhand slice looked fairly weak to me, often high and short. Really don't see him making it into top 10. Maybe top 20.
 
N

nowhereman

Guest
He's hitting his backhand 10-15 mph slower than usual. He's playing well, but he's hardly back to full form yet.
 
NoleFam

NoleFam

Bionic Poster
I'm interested to see the upcoming match with him and Federer. Del Potro is one of the most talented guys on the tour of the last generation. I haven't seen him play yet in his comeback but I'm hearing quite a few comments about his backhand being less than impressive. I wonder what happened because he had a great two-hander before.
 
jm1980

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
NoleFam said:
I'm interested to see the upcoming match with him and Federer. Del Potro is one of the most talented guys on the tour of the last generation. I haven't seen him play yet in his comeback but I'm hearing quite a few comments about his backhand being less than impressive. I wonder what happened because he had a great two-hander before.
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Injuries on his left wrist and surgery
 
Roddick85

Roddick85

Hall of Fame
I've been following Del Potro since he came back in Del Ray. I gotta say I'm both impressed and concerned. I'm impressed because the serve is better than ever, the forehand is still a WMD. The movement still needs some work, but that should fix itself the more he plays. The backhand, I'm not too sure what to think of. He's very reluctant to hit a proper 2HBH during rallies, only using it on the return or from time to time. 90% of the backhands he hits are slices, so it's definitely a huge weakness. Regardless, he's still been able to win a couple of matches. Federer will surely exploit this weakness tomorrow, but it will be interesting to see how JMDP deals with it. What I'd like to know is the reason why he doesn't want to hit a 2HBH? Is it because there's still pain? Confidence issue? Scared of re-injuring? If he's going to give up hitting a proper 2HBH, why not switch to a 1HBH? He's already got a good slice, what would he have to lose?
 
Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
Shaolin said:
Freaking lame that he has to play Fed second round.
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Should be an interesting match-up. Two recuperating former Slam winners testing how well their recovery is going against each other. Which one will prevail: dodgy wrist or dodgy knee?
 
Shaolin

Shaolin

G.O.A.T.
Mainad said:
Should be an interesting match-up. Two recuperating former Slam winners testing how well their recovery is going against each other. Which one will prevail: dodgy wrist or dodgy knee?
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Yes but its awful that one of them has to be eliminated in the process. Too bad Delpo couldnt have some boring guys that no one cares about in the early rounds (Istomin, Seppi, Busta, Djokovic :cool: etc)
 
S

SideSpinSliceIsNice

Rookie
Tony48 said:
Full form? No where near.

Federer is going to destroy him. His backhand is not nearly good enough to trouble anyone in the top 10.
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ollinger said:
Not going anywhere with that backhand. I'd be stunned if he made it to top 10.
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nowhereman said:
He's hitting his backhand 10-15 mph slower than usual. He's playing well, but he's hardly back to full form yet.
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His forehand is just as good as it was before the wrist injury. However, I do think that the backhand will take a while to fully be comfortable with. I don't see any way he'll be back in the top ten until the end of this year/early next year. At the moment, any smart player with a big game can break down his backhand and wait for the opportunity for an easy put away. Del po knows this and has to rip the forehand every single time he's able to hit it. I'd say he has about a 30 percent chance to beat Fed unless his forehand is in god-mode.
 
Stretchy Man

Stretchy Man

Professional
Shaolin said:
Not a pro level one hander. Even pros that have had a one hander their whole life often get their backhands beat up on.
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Doesn't need a pro level backhand. A 1HBH slice wouldn't be too difficult to master and would give better depth and accuracy than the gentle pushes that land short that he does now. Top spin winners could come later. Come on, after three surgeries, that wrist is never going to come right.
 
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speedysteve

speedysteve

Legend
I'm another one enjoying his return trail.
He was slicing most bh in the first set in Miami but was hitting a few double handers second set.
His opponent was targeting the bh to start with but Delpo was reliable enough not to give much away.
A few great fhs in there. Love it when he slaps them away.
Hope it goes well for him.
The tour needs him.
 
V

VexlanderPrime

Guest
beltsman said:
Means nothing until his BH is back to normal. I saw him hit a few 1HBH out of nowhere when he wasn't set up, and he sliced a ton. Definitely not back to normal but the FH is there. Should have switched to 1HBH long ago.
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^^^^^^ this
 
V

VexlanderPrime

Guest
Mr.Lob said:
Yeah, Fed will be all over Delpos backhand AND the net after going to the backhand. Delpos serve and forehand looked great. Movement and fitness subpar, but can improve.

Delpos backhand slice looked fairly weak to me, often high and short. Really don't see him making it into top 10. Maybe top 20.
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Yah this is a weakness in my own game. I slice too much and my Opp will hit to my BH and rush the net. Are you just screwed with a slice in that situation? Do I NEED to lob and/or hit a TS BH to get out of that?
 
H

helterskelter

G.O.A.T.
Well, we'll now never know how Del Potro would have done against Federer. But he sure as hell should beat Zeballos, and he'll go in favorite against either Verdasco or Chardy, so this is an opportunity for him to pick up some points and rise up the rankings. I think Troicki/Goffin will be tough in round 4, but it's not an unwinnable match.
 
D

Deleted member 77403

Guest
Mainad said:
Just out of interest: why are giants invariably described as 'gentle'? Has there ever been an ungentle giant? ;)
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I take it you haven't heard the stories about the legendary Andre the Giant.
 
Mr.Lob

Mr.Lob

G.O.A.T.
VexlanderPrime said:
Yah this is a weakness in my own game. I slice too much and my Opp will hit to my BH and rush the net. Are you just screwed with a slice in that situation? Do I NEED to lob and/or hit a TS BH to get out of that?
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Well, in that situation, I'd think if you can keep your slice low over the net, it would be hard to handle. If opponent is picking them off to easily, I'd lob to his backhand corner, or if he's going cross-court to your backhand (if you're right handed), practice your down the line slice.
 
U

unbiased

New User
Watching his Miami R64 against against Zeballos I am afraid that this might be his last tournament for a while again due to left wrist problems :(
 
V

VexlanderPrime

Guest
Mr.Lob said:
Well, in that situation, I'd think if you can keep your slice low over the net, it would be hard to handle. If opponent is picking them off to easily, I'd lob to his backhand corner, or if he's going cross-court to your backhand (if you're right handed), practice your down the line slice.
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Thanks!
 
D

Deleted member 77403

Guest
Mainad said:
Nope. Did he play tennis too? ;)
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If you get a chance look him up. There was no one like him, he holds unofficial world record for drinking 110 bottles of beer in one sitting and not passing out. Record won't be officially recognized since it considered to detrimental to a person's health.
 
Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
Hitman said:
If you get a chance look him up. There was no one like him, he holds unofficial world record for drinking 110 bottles of beer in one sitting and not passing out. Record won't be officially recognized since it considered to detrimental to a person's health.
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Doesn't sound like he played tennis! ;)
 
H

helterskelter

G.O.A.T.
WhiskeyEE said:
He has been free to hit FHs, bh slice, and serves the entire time off. The only thing he hasn't been able to hit is 2hbh.
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I'm not sure he was able to serve during the time off: his wrist would have been put under pressure by throwing the ball up in the air for the toss.
 
speedysteve

speedysteve

Legend
It's a real downer! Watched the match and he's clearly struggling.
Winced badly putting on his lh sweat band:(
Sad thing to see.
Wish him well.
 
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