The Happiness of Watching Juan Martín del Potro

Every so often, an athlete has a skill that is so obviously excellent, so justly famous, that it almost becomes a cliché. In tennis, there is Juan Martín del Potro’s forehand. It is such a shorthand for power that it’s easy to overlook that it’s strange. No one else hits anything like it. It is less a swing than a swipe, a slap shot that somehow loses little in accuracy despite its stunning speed. In this age of topspin and defense, the twenty-seven-year-old Argentine hits flat and attacks. He starts with his racquet high—very high; he is six feet six—and then drops the racquet head barely below the ball, so the shot comes off straight and hard. It can almost look like he’s batting the ball down into the opposing court. The motion could look awkward, but del Potro moves with unusual grace for someone his height. He makes hitting a ball hard look very fun.

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