Shakespeare never saw Juan Martin del Potro play tennis, but describes his emotive power artfully writing “Love is a spirit all compact of fire.”
All true love stories start with passion.
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Del Potro believes the love tennis fans show him—including infusing him with the energy to stage one of his greatest comebacks in a five-set US Open triumph over Dominic Thiem—is because they feel his pure passion for the game.
“I think the people loves my effort to come back and play tennis,” del Potro said when asked why he’s so revered. “They know what have been through with all my wrist problems. They like one guy who never give ups, and he's trying to play tennis.
“You can see my backhand is not good enough yet, but I'm still trying. I think the people likes that.”
Del Potro, who considered retiring from the match during his second-set shellacking, said crowd support sparked his inspired comeback that propelled him into a blockbuster US Open quarterfinal with Roger Federer.
"(The crowd) was very important because I was trying to retire the match in the second set," del Potro said. "Then I saw the crowd waiting for more tennis, waiting for my good forehands, good serves. I took all that energy to change in a good way and think about fight and not retire.
"I did well, and I start to enjoy little bit more about the fans. I think I did everything well after the third set. The crowd enjoy with me all points. It was unbelievable atmosphere."
Photo credit: US Open Facebook