Juan Martin del Potro and Bethanie Mattek-Sands have been rewarded for their exploits at Rio 2016 with wildcard entries to the US Open.
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The U.S Tennis Association said on Tuesday that the 2009 champion had been granted a pass into this month’s final grand slam of the year at Flushing Meadows in NY. Del Potro won the silver medal in the men’s singles tennis competition at the 2016 summer Olympics.
Del Potro missed two years’ worth of Grand Slam tournaments following a series of wrist operations before returning to that level at Wimbledon in June. He is 141st this week.
Seven years ago at age 20, del Potro beat five-time U.S. Open champion Roger Federer in five sets in the U.S. Open final and was considered the next big thing in tennis.
On Sunday, del Potro lost to Andy Murray in the men’s final at the Rio Games, getting a silver for Argentina. His Olympic sprint included a first-round win over number one Novak Djokovic and a semi-final defeat of Rafael Nadal before losing to Murray in the gold medal match last weekend.
Del Potro will need to work hard on his fitness though if he is to be make the most of this opportunity.
Also receiving spots in the main draw were Bjorn Fratangelo, Frances Tiafoe, Rajeev Ram, 2016 NCAA singles Mackenzie McDonald, 2016 USTA Boys’ 18s National Champion Michael Mmoh and USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Challenge victor Ernesto Escobedo.
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Others were awarded to Lauren Davis, Vania King and France’s Virginie Razzano.
