ESPN Tennis

Updated: September 4, 2009, 5:00 PM ET

Don't overlook deceiving del Potro

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By Greg Garber
ESPN.com
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The beautiful (talented) people at this U.S. Open are identified by a single name: Venus, Rafa, Serena, Roger, Novak, Maria, etc.

The youngest player in the men's top 10, one of the most exciting, gifted and ascendant athletes in the sport, is just an ordinary Juan.

Through five days, you could not find a single story about him in the voluminous USTA package of daily clips. Until Friday, he hadn't been invited to the main interview room -- which, to this point, has been the haven for upstart young Americans.

Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Juan Martin del Potro, the 6-foot-6 Argentine. Hard to believe, but the No. 6 seed here at the National Tennis Center has only been a force at the top for a year or so. It sure seems longer.

Last year, he blazed white-hot into the U.S. Open and reached the quarterfinals of his first Grand Slam. Only Andy Murray, himself an upwardly mobile youth, was able to end del Potro's 23-match, four-tournament title run. In the course of the summer, Del Potro bang-zoomed from No. 65 to 13th in the ATP World Tour rankings.

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Jim McIsaac/Getty ImagesJuan Martin del Potro has not lost a set though three rounds at the U.S. Open.

This year, del Potro climbed as high as No. 5 and had another nice summer season, reaching the finals in Washington (beating Roddick in the final) and Montreal (beating Roddick in the semifinal before losing to Murray in the final). Citing fatigue, he withdrew from Cincinnati.

He has quietly gone about his business at the U.S. Open, arriving here in the third round with little fanfare. Del Potro struggled early in his Friday match with Jurgen Melzer, the tenacious Austrian. He erased an early service break, a 1-3 deficit in the first-set tiebreaker and then a set point.

The final was 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-3 and, like everything else, it was only deceptively easy. There is a languid, seemingly effortless quality to his strokes; it's jarring to look at the screen displaying serve speeds and see 130 miles per hour.

Certainly, these swift courts agree with his big game.

"This is my favorite Grand Slam," Del Potro said afterward. "I love to play here. I have a good respect for this tournament. I want to be quiet with my matches, with my game, and then we will see."

Because Del Potro is the third-youngest player in the top 100 (five days older than No. 17 Marin Cilic and more than a full year older than No. 98 Kei Nishikori) he still has a significant upside.

His biggest improvement has come in the ace department. Last year, he hit a total of 295. He came into the U.S. Open with 499, an average of nearly three more per match -- a big jump.

"I beat Roddick, González, and they are very good players on this kind of surface," Del Potro said. "But if I want to be a good player in the future and to beat Murray, Federer and Djokovic on this surface, I will try."

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.