page_title: Juan Martín del Potro
section_title: 2017: Continued comeback, US Open semis
hierarchical_section_title: Juan Martín del Potro / Tennis career / 2017: Continued comeback, US Open semis
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Juan Martin Del Potro au tournoi ATP de Lyon, mai 2017
context_page_description: Juan Martín del Potro Lucas, nicknamed Delpo, is an Argentine professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 128 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
  His biggest achievement has been winning the 2009 US Open, defeating Rafael Nadal in the semifinal and 5-time defending champion Roger Federer in the final. He was the first to defeat both Federer and Nadal during the same major and was the only man outside the Big Four to win a major between the 2005 French Open and the 2013 US Open, a span of 35 tournaments. He is also the second Argentine and the fifth-youngest man to win the US Open in the Open Era. Other career highlights include reaching the 2018 US Open final, winning the bronze medal in men's singles at the 2012 London Olympics, the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Indian Wells Masters in 2018, and being part of his country's successful Davis Cup team; but his career has also been hampered by a succession of wrist and knee injuries.
  Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 6 October 2008.
context_section_description: Del Potro decided to skip the Australian Open and made his season debut at the Delray Beach Open, where he was seeded in a tournament for the first time in three years, at No. 7, and won his first three matches against Kevin Anderson, Damir Dzumhur and Sam Querrey, who beat him in the semifinals of the same tournament last year. However, in the semifinals this year, del Potro lost to top seed and world No. 4 Milos Raonic in straight sets. Next, del Potro played in the Mexican Open, where he was drawn to play qualifier Frances Tiafoe, who idolised del Potro when he was a child. In the end, del Potro won an extremely tight match in three sets. In the next round, del Potro played the top seed of the tournament for the second time in a row. This time it was Novak Djokovic on the other side of the court. Del Potro lost in three sets after winning the first set.
  Del Potro next played at the Indian Wells Masters. Del Potro was seeded 31st so he received a bye into the second round, where he played his Argentine Davis Cup teammate Federico Delbonis. He won in two tight sets. In the next round, Del Potro faced Djokovic again, with the same result, Del Potro losing in three sets. After, Del Potro played at the Miami Open, where he had a comfortable victory over Robin Haase before losing to Roger Federer.
  Del Potro began his clay-court season at the Estoril Open, where he beat Yuichi Sugita for the loss of just 4 games in the first round. However, the day after his victory, Del Potro heard that his grandfather died and subsequently withdrew from the tournament.
  Del Potro withdrew from the Madrid Open, reappearing at the Italian Open where he reached the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time since the 2013 Paris Masters, following victories over 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov, Kyle Edmund and 7th seed Kei Nishikori, which was his first victory in 2017 over a top 10 ranked player. However, he succumbed yet again to world No. 2 Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
  Del Potro then competed at the newly formed Lyon Open, where he defeated lucky loser Quentin Halys, but lost in the next round against Portuguese qualifier Gastão Elias in straight sets. Doubt was cast over his participation at the French Open because of a back injury that had hampered him at Lyon, but he eventually decided to partake in the event. Del Potro entered as the 29th seed, the first time since the 2014 Australian Open that he was seeded at a Grand Slam tournament. In the first round, Del Potro defeated Guido Pella in straight sets, and in the second round against Nicolas Almagro, it was one set apiece before Almagro retired. Del Potro eventually fell in straight sets to top seed Andy Murray in the third round.
  After suffering an early second round exit at Wimbledon, Del Potro began his summer North American hard court season at Washington, where he lost to Kei Nishikori in the third round. He then lost to Denis Shapovalov in the second round of Montreal, and to eventual champion Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of Cincinnati.
  At the US Open, Del Potro defeated Henri Laaksonen, Adrián Menéndez-Maceiras and Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets, putting his best year performance to date against Bautista Agut. He began his fourth round match against Dominic Thiem greatly struggling, falling two sets behind. However, he then raised his level and, with the help of the crowd, he eventually prevailed in five sets, including saving two match points in the fourth set with two aces. In the post match interview he admitted he considered retiring from the match during the second set.
  The US Open account on Instagram switched his racquet for Thor's hammer using software editing tools, which created a new nickname for the Argentine: Juan Martin "del Thortro", by fellow tennis player Roger Federer, adding to a collection of nicknames such as "Delpo", "Tower of Tandil", "Palito" (stick) and "Enano" (midget). This led to a joke in social media with Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, and in this joke he demands his hammer back because he claimed to need it for his q
caption: Del Potro at the 2017 Lyon Open
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