New York is the city where Gabriela Sabatini and Juan Martín Del Potro achieved their most important sporting achievements. Two of the most outstanding tennis players in Argentine history have returned to step onto the court again and have fun with racket in hand. They will do so on Wednesday night, during one of the shows that the organizers of the event will host. US Open takes place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during the week leading up to the start of the final Grand Slam of the season.
“Stars of the Open” It is an exhibition that is part of the Fan Week of the US Open, which takes place in the days leading up to the tournament, coinciding with the qualification, and which includes gastronomic events, shows musicals, entertainment for children and teenagers, and, of course, lots of tennis.
This year’s participants will include active players, such as the Serbian Novak Djokovicagainst whom Del Potro will train at Arthur Ashe at 4 p.m., the Spaniard Carlos Alcarazthe Danish Caroline Wozniacki and the Americans Frances Tiafoe y Jessica Pegulaand also legends of this sport.
Along with former champions of the stature of John McEnroe y André Agassi Sabatini and Del Potro will be present at the exhibition, which will take place on Wednesday from 8 to 10 p.m. at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The event will be for charity: part of the proceeds will go to the USTA Foundation, which offers educational and tennis programs to low-income communities.
Although there has been no official confirmation from the organization, it is likely that the Argentine duo will play with the Americans Andy Roddick (who retired in 2012) and Venus Williams, who has not competed since March, but has not yet announced her final farewell.
Gabriela Sabatini and Juan Martin del Potro will play an exhibition together in the week leading up to the US Open. Photo: Twitter @delpotrojuan.
Delpo He posted a message on his Twitter account on Sunday saying: “Getting ready,” along with a photo of himself and his partner, both wearing sportswear. Gaby shared the post and added some emojis.
Also, an Instagram account that presents itself as The Last Challenge was created on Sunday and has since published suggestive material about the return of the man from Tandil. “The game is not over. Something big is about to happen,” he promises in his biography.
Gabriela Sabatini and Juan Martin Del Potro, smiling during a training session. Photo Instagram @sabatinigaby.
Joint participation in this exhibition will be another chapter in the affectionate bond which unites the former number three in the WTA rankings and the former number three in the ATP rankings. In March 2021, when Delpo He was awarded the Platinum Konex Award for his career between 2010 and 2019, Sabatini was a special guest of the Grand Jury at the ceremony.
Just under a year later, on February 5, 2022, the Tandil Tower announced that she would retire after participating in the Argentina Open. “We really enjoyed watching you play and you made us vibrate so many times. Thank you for everything you gave to this sport that we love so much. Today you have a whole new life ahead of you and a lot to do. May you always be very happy. We will continue sharing many more moments. I love you,” she wrote then. Gaby on their Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Three days later, the winner of 27 WTA titles was one of the special guests who watched from one of the boxes at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club the match that the Tandil native lost to Federico Delbonis in the first round of the ATP Buenos Aires and which marked the end of his cycle as a professional.
Gabriela Sabatini accompanied Juan Martín Del Potro when the Tandil native was awarded the Konex Platinum Award in 2021. Photo Instagram @delpotrojuan.
In May 2023, while he was preparing to compete for the Roland Garros Legends Trophy next to Gisela DulkoSabatini shared a photo of a training session with the 2016 Davis Cup champion. And last December, when she participated in the gala for the centenary of the creation of the Argentine Olympic Committee He chose an image with Del Potro to illustrate the allusive post he published on Instagram.
For these two legends of Argentine sport, New York will always hold a very special place. In the Big Apple Sabatini won her only Grand Slam: on September 8, 1990, she beat the German 6-2 and 7-6 (7-4) Steffi Graf in the final, which was still being played at Louis Armstrong Stadium (Arthur Ashe Stadium was opened in 1997).
Gabriela Sabatini won the US Open in 1990. Photo: Instagram @sabatinigaby.
That was the 15th of 27 titles in the career of Gaby and the first Grand Slam achieved by an Argentine. Later they would imitate her Paola Suarez and Dulko in doubles competitions. And it was also a rematch, since two years earlier the Buenos Aires native had lost the decisive match against Graf.
Del Potro, one of the favorites of the New York public, also won his only Grand Slam crown there and the seventh of his 22 professional titles: At just 20 years old, he defeated Roger Federer 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) and 6-2 in the final of the 2009 edition that was played on Monday, September 14 (it had to be postponed for a day due to rain) at the Arthur Ashe. In doing so, he ended the Swiss’s six-year, 40-match unbeaten streak at the US Open.
Juan Martin Del Potro poses at the Empire State Building with the 2009 US Open trophy. Photo: AFP
In this tournament, in which he has a record of 35 wins and 9 losses, Delpo He was also a finalist in 2018 (lost to Novak Djokovic) and semi-finalist in 2017, and reached the quarter-finals in 2008, 2012 and 2016. In addition, he was partner Another historic moment during this century at the US Open: Roddick’s last match as a professional. The Tandil native beat him in the round of 16 of the 2012 edition and thus ended the career of the Omaha Bomber.
