Tennis: Del Potro unlikely to defend Auckland title

Juan Martin del Potro's victory today in the United States Open has a double edge for organisers of the Heineken Open tennis tournament.

They are delighted their defending champion has managed to claim the first Grand Slam title of his career.

But they also know that the odds on del Potro returning to New Zealand in January has just lengthened considerably.

The reason is that the appearance fee the 20-year-old world No 6 would now command would probably put him out of reach.

Del Potro upset world No 1 and five-time US Open champion Roger Federer in five sets in New York to grab his third title of a year that began with his success in the Heineken Open.

Tournament director Richard Palmer said it was great for everyone involved in the Auckland event to see del Potro come through at Flushing Meadows.

"It's fantastic to have your defending champion win a Grand Slam," he said.

"The downside - because we've been in talks with him - is that what we've been discussing may well change."

Palmer was at the first week of the US Open to talk to players and agents with a view to next year's Auckland tournament.

Among those he spoke to was del Potro and his coach, who were keen to return.

However, Palmer accepted that the chances of that happening had "probably gone down considerably".

"We will be revising what we can offer him, but we are limited in our resources."

Palmer said one thing that might work in his tournament's favour is that players often like to follow what had worked for them in the past.

"Players can be quite superstitious in some way," he said.

"They like to repeat patterns that have worked for them, so we hope that will happen."

Palmer said del Potro signalled last year that he was a player to watch with his rare feat of four tournament wins in a row.

"We saw in Auckland that he was a good player and he has progressed even further in these past few months," he said.

"The way he played today was amazing. He was almost mistake-free and the sheer power, particularly his forehand, was unbelievable. He was just overwhelming Federer at the finish."

- NZPA