Argetina is well known for producing tennis stars who are world class. The country has an ambundance of clay courts and therefore most of their top class players are clay court specialists, loving the red surface. 

They are raised thinking that clay is the only surface you can play on and nothing else matters. This time of year Argentinians are preparing to play on the lengthy European clay courts circuit at big events such as Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Estoril, Hamburg and, most important of all, the big Grand Slam at Rolland Garros, the French Open. 

Guilermo Vilas is probably the most successful Argentinian player in the past, but over recent years a whole new crop of players have been fighting for success and there are no less than 15 Arentinians in the top 150 world rankings, showing just how dangerous they are. 

'At only 19 years of age, the young Argentine is set to make an almighty splash on the ATP tour this year'


Davide Nalbandian and Guilermo Canas both beat Roger Federer twice in 2007. Only Rafael Nadal could say the same! Agustin Calleri, Juan Ignacio Chela and Juan Monaco continue to fight hard for Top 50 places in the rankings with Monaco set to break into the men's Top 20 this year.

One new name that you need to follow is that of Juan Martin Del Potro. At only 19 years of age, the young Argentine is set to make an almighty splash on the ATP tour this year. And the suprising thing is that he lists his favoured surface as hard ourts, something unheard of in Argentina. 

He is one of the tallest players on the ATP tour at 6ft 5ins and this extra height allows him to have a powerful and difficult-to-read serve which suits the hard court season. Unfortunately for Del Potro he has been injuryed since the Australain Open in January, missing out on some of his favourite tournments and therefore unable to gain ATP Tour ranking points.

He first came to light in 2006 as a young 17-year-old. Del Potro's long hair and skinny physique made him stand out on the court but that didn't mean he couldn't play good tennis - far from it!  He had a successful 2006, climbing the rankings by over 70 places to just inside the top 100 by the end of the year. He defeated Carlos Moya and Fernando Verdsco on the full tour but spent most of the year on the lower challenger tour as most youngsters tend to do.

After gaining lots of experience against solid top 100 players, Del Potro broke into the men's Top 50 and was the youngest player there in 2007. He reached a career high 44 by October and had a very solid year. Although faiing to set alight the ATP tour, Del Potro was unlucky in many of his draws having to play top seeds in the first or second rounds due to him not being seeded himself. 

He reached the second round of Wimbledon, losing out to Roger Federer, and the third round of the US Open, losing to Novak Djokovic. He lost three times throughout the year to Nadal.

If he is to become a top tennis star he needs to beat these players, but at only 19 he needs a few more years to gain more confidence. The tall Argentine from Tandil reached the first semi-final of his career in Adelaide and also reached the quarter-finals of Nottingham on grass.

Okay, David Nalbandian did reach the final of Wimbledon on the surface but it's still a suprise to see Argentinians doing well on the green stuff. Del Potro loved it!  He showed his love of hard courts by reaching the fourth round at Miami in a Masters series event, but oddly enough none of his best resluts came on the clay!

Del Potro had a host of good victories over the year against Canas, Tommy Robredo, Mikhail Youzhny and Marcos Baghdatis. He is an emerging talent on the circuit and if he can keep fit he has been tipped by many former players as a top five player for the future.