You can take a tennis champion out of a court, but you cannot take the player out of him. This was evident when Juan Martin del Potro stepped out his natural habitat and was given the tour of the new Concourse A at Dubai International Airport, the home to Emirates A380 fleet, on Monday afternoon.
Gravitating towards the electronics store at the Dubai Duty Free, it was the game flashing on the Samsung Smart TV that caught his interest.
“Bring it on,” said del Potro with a grin as the staff quickly pointed out the rules of the game. The tournament fourth seed was playing against the computer but he didn’t t take it any less seriously. Oblivious to the crowd gathering to see him in action, he lunged for every ball and demolished his enemy in straight sets.
“Give him something tougher … that’s way too easy for him,” hollered a fan from the sidelines. The impromptu comment brought a smile to his face as Del Potro went about defeating his opponent. When he missed that rare shot, the emotions flashing across his face and the tight fists were far too real.. Clearly, it’s never all play for Del Potro. “I am a huge fan of video games and that was good fun. I believe it’s always a good way to unwind with my mates,” said Del Potro as he graciously signed autographs and posed for pictures with his fans.
The Argentinian player also tried his luck by entering the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire draw, putting him in the running to win US$1,000,000 (Dh3,673,095)
“Of course, I believe in luck. Who doesn’t? Something tells me that I am going to wait by my phone to find out if I win or not. It will be amazing if I win ... Maybe, I will buy more cars,” said Del Potro with a wink. But he isn’t relying just on just lady luck for his upcoming game in Dubai.
As soon as they called it a wrap at shooting the Dubai promotional video in his role as a Dubai Duty Free ambassador, Del Potro intended to put in hours of practice.
“It’s great to play in Dubai and I am looking forward to my game. It’s an amazing country. It’s so far away from my home town and it’s a different world,” said Del Potro. A football fan himself, he hopes his his idol and soccer star Diego Maradona will cheer him on in Dubai.
“That will be so great. I have met him and he knows his tennis. So I hope that happens,” said Del Potro.
