Juan Martin del Potro

Juan Martin del Potro has to carry a rangy, lanky, 6-foot, 6-inch frame around a tennis court. He doesn’t have the smooth, gliding footwork of Roger Federer, whose rather compact frame enables him to reach shots with relative ease.

He lacks the thick, muscular build of Marat Safin, a man who probably had the greatest body a tennis player could ever hope for. Yet, this 21-year-old from Argentina has once again proven that he can run well enough and long enough to outlast high-quality opponents.

Del Potro, seeded fourth at this year’s Australian Open, watched unseeded American James Blake play one of the best matches of his life on Wednesday night in Melbourne. Yet, the towering tree from the town of Tandil was able to absorb Blake’s brilliance and still prevail in a five-set classic.

The best match of the young tournament delivered an exhilarating victory to the reigning U.S. Open champion. Delpo topped Blake, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 5-7, 6-3, 10-8, in 4 hours and 17 minutes at Hisense Arena. The second-round triumph – which felt like a quarterfinal – sends the No. 4 seed into Friday’s third round.

There were two literally outstanding features of this match. That statement could be interpreted in a very simple way: Both players were in fact outstanding.

Blake has a long and tortured history of losing five-set matches in major tournaments, but this excruciating defeat will not be remembered as a choke job; anything but. The Harvard graduate used stellar net play, improved instincts, a blended all-court game, and finely-calibrated groundstrokes to keep del Potro off balance.

Blake was flawless in a second set tiebreak that he won by a decisive 7-3 margin. The American maintained an extremely high level in a successful third set, dipped ever so briefly in the fourth, but then peaked in an enthralling fifth set that dazzled every onlooker at the tournament’s second show court.

After del Potro broke to gain a 6-5 lead in the final set, Blake punished multiple forehands down both lines and took advantage of a loose Delpo forehand at love-15 to break back for 6-all. Whereas past five-set losses were marked by abysmal decisions and subpar ballstriking, this match witnessed a bigger, better Blake, a man who has nothing to regret from this distinguished performance.

The fact of the matter is that del Potro is a major champion for a reason. Displaying the courage, fitness and big-point composure of an elite tennis player, the Argentine simply wrested this match from his older counterpart.

Serving at 3-4 in the fifth set, Delpo faced a break point that, if lost, would have allowed Blake to serve for the match. It was at this point that the 21-year-old showed poise beyond his years. Delpo threw down two aces and used another formidable serve to dig out of a deficit and hold for 4-all.

Roger Federer has one of the great clutch serves of all time, but at this very moment, it’s del Potro who owns the most reliable big-point serve in all of men’s tennis. Without his cannon, the Argentine would have been gunned down at crunch time.

As great an offensive player as del Potro can be, however, his defense is just as special. When he broke Blake for a 9-8 lead in the final set, Delpo simply maxed out. He chased down several shots to work his way into a neutral position and then line up a forehand pass that saved a game point.

On the ensuing deuce point, Delpo made an even better backhand passing shot as a stunned American looked on in disbelief. Having executed at such a high level to earn break point, Delpo finished the job when he used good depth on his groundstrokes to elicit an error from his opponent.

Given a 9-8 lead and a second chance to serve out the match (the 6-5 game being the first opportunity), Delpo benefited from a return error by Blake on a 15-30 point. At 30-all, del Potro served up two more bombs – an ace and a service winner – to win another endurance match that was every bit as draining as his five-set win over Federer in the 2009 U.S. Open final.

Juan Martin del Potro doesn’t run with the effortless grace of other more streamlined athletes. Yet, he’s regularly able to do what it takes to win major tournament matches. He might get tired, but this amazing Argentine just wouldn’t be comfortable if he didn’t spill the tank. By competing with a relentlessness known only by other champions, del Potro has put himself in position to make another deep run at a Grand Slam event.

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