Say Hi to Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina

September 15th, 2009

He’s carrying a bag with 1.8 million dollars in it

Born on September 23, 1988, a resident of Tandil, Argentina, he is 6’6” tall and may be the up and coming tennis champ of the world. He seems pleasant and modest and is a great tennis player. A few weeks before his 21st birthday, he nailed the US Open Tennis Tournament by beating long-time champion Roger Federer. Del Potro still has a long playing career ahead of him and with the right coaching will probably be the next dominator of men’s tennis. Meantime, just to show that he means business, he pocketed $1.8 million in the US Open.

Up to now

To date Del Potro’s total earnings from tennis amount to $5.5 million and this year they are $3.6 million, not including the latest episode. Roger Federer’s career earnings are about $51 million. This is from play only and does not include the commercial side which comes from sponsorships and advertising. Being at the top of the tennis ladder is lucrative business!

The beginning

Del Potro began playing tennis at age seven. His talent was discovered by Italian ex-tennis professional Ugo Colombini, who accompanied him through the initial phases of his young career, and is still today his agent and close friend. At the age of 14, Del Potro played in three tournaments in Argentina, losing in the first round of each. A year later he made it to the second round of the same tournament. Later that year, he reached the quarterfinals of the ITF Circuit event in Brazil. He also reached the finals in the Argentina Cup and Campionati Internazionali D’Italia Junior tournaments. He was now established as a tennis player to watch. He was a crowd favorite and was widely known for his short temper.

2008

Del Potro enjoyed his best season in 2008, winning four titles and finishing in the Top 10 for the first time. He also finished as Argentina’s number one player and the highest ranked South American.

Tennis

The game of tennis has made great strides in the past 20 or so years, partly due to the huge amount of money that finds its way into the game and partly due to its enormous exposure on television. The money comes from sponsors and advertising and seems to be unlimited. What I find quite amazing is that this is the same game of tennis that was played in the 19th century. Even the rules have changed very little since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1960 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and then the adoption of the tie-break in the 1970s.

The prize money

In 1968, the first year of the US Open the total prize money in the beginning was $17 million. This year it was set at $19.6 million. All participating players are offered monetary compensation for accommodation and other expenses.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 6:46 pm and is filed under Personal / Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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