Juan Martín del Potro has won the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Class of 2027 fan vote, the Newport-based institution announced Monday.
Former world No. 1 Ash Barty finished second and Svetlana Kuznetsova third, according to the Hall of Fame.
Tens of thousands of fans from 128 countries cast ballots in the player category, the Hall of Fame said. Fans could vote for as many nominees as they believed deserving.
The fan vote is one of two steps in the election process. An official voting group of tennis journalists, historians and Hall of Famers also votes on the Class of 2027 ballot. As the fan vote winner, del Potro receives an additional three percentage points added to his total from that group. Barty receives two additional points and Kuznetsova one.
Japan’s Shingo Kunieda is also on the ballot, in the wheelchair tennis category.
A candidate must receive 75% or higher on the combined results of the official voting group and any fan vote bonus points to be elected. The Class of 2027 will be announced in November.
Del Potro won the U.S. Open in 2009, one of 22 titles across a nearly 20-year career. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 and finished with a 439-174 singles record. Among his other achievements: a 23-match winning streak as a teenager in 2008, an Olympic silver medal, and leading Argentina to its first Davis Cup title in 2016.
More information on the Class of 2027 nominees and the induction process is available at tennisfame.com.
