Sports

US Open champion gets a hero´s welcome at home
by Zuzana Zelenakova

After beating Roger Federer in the US Open final Juan Martin del Potro returned Wednesday to his native Argentina. He was cheered by crowds at the Buenos Aires airport as only soccer stars usually are in Argentina. At a press conference at a hotel in the capital city del Potro informed about his plans for the upcoming months. "The Masters (Cup) could be my next goal this year," he told reporters. He is currently ranked fifth in the world achieving this position in ATP ranking in April 2009. Del Potro admitted that he aspires to become No 1 and will do his maximum for that goal. And what does 20 year old tennis player says about his first Grand Slam victory (3-6, 7-6 (5), 4! -6, 7-6 (4), 6-2)? "I had nothing to lose," he said of Monday's final against Roger Federer. "It was his 21st final against my first final. I can barely understand that I won the US Open, and that I beat the world No 2 and the No 1 in two days." Del Potro was born in Tandil, 200 miles south of Buenos Aires, and began play tennis at the age of seven. He turned professional in 2005. At this year´s French Open he won over Tommy Robredo to get to his first semi-final only to be defeated by eventual champion Roger Federer. At the 2009 Wimbledon he lost to unseeded Lleyton Hewitt 6–3, 7–5, 7–5 in the second round. However, only few weeks later del Potro celebrated 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(2) victory over Hewitt in Washington. Upon a return to his hometown of Tandil, the city of 100,000 plans to welcome him will full honors, including a parade and receiving a key to the city. He will also be awarded the title of “sports ambassador”.
related story (sgx15401): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090916/ap_on_sp_te_ne/ten_del_p...

by Zuzana Zelenakova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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posted by Blog TechSource @ 11:59 PM