Juan Martin del Potro Hoping for Winning 2016 Finale
Argentina have never won the Davis Cup but, as they prepare to face Croatia, Juan Martin del Potro is confident 2016 can be their year.
OMNISPORT
Juan Martin del Potro hopes to cap off a memorable year by leading Argentina to their first Davis Cup this weekend.
Del Potro returned to the ATP Tour earlier after two injury-hit years, which saw his ranking tumble down to 1,045.
The 28-year-old came back at the Delray Beach Open in February where he progressed to the semi-finals, and things have gone from strength to strength since.
He came from a set down to beat Stan Wawrinka in the second round at Wimbledon before reaching the Olympics final - only to be beaten by Andy Murray.
His run in Rio saw him dispose of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, and he maintained that form into the US Open only for Wawrinka to get his Wimbledon revenge in the last eight.
Del Potro has played a key role in Argentina reaching their first Davis Cup final since 2011 and he is confident of performing once again when they take on Croatia in Zagreb.
"I've had a great year. I have everything to do a good weekend. We are confident," he told a media conference.
"It will be a great experience if we do really well. We are thinking about the preparation and trying to focus.
"It's a very special moment for us and we are very, very positive."
The clash will see Del Potro come up against fellow big server Marin Cilic and the Argentina star knows beating his Croatian rival will be difficult.
"Marin is a good player, I've known him since [we were] 12 years old and we've had a similar career," he added.
"He's a very good friend of mine. He's a great player and he has a chance to win this trophy this weekend, but we will try and win as well."