Juan Martin del Potro is one of only three men to have beaten Roger Federer this year.

By saving three championship points to win a testy Indian Wells final in a third set tie-break, Del Potro claimed his first ever Masters 1000 title.

It also served as a reminder that when fit and rested, the popular Argentine is perhaps the man most likely to challenge Federer and Rafael Nadal’s recent Grand Slam hegemony.

“Rafa on clay, and Roger on grass: it’s the toughest challenge for all the players on tour,” Del Potro told BBC Sport.

“But I did well at the beginning of the season, and I know how close I am to them. But at the same time I feel very far.”

At the 2009 US Open, aged just 20, Del Potro beat them both to win his sole Grand Slam to date.

A straight-sets semi-final win over Nadal was followed by victory from two-sets-to-one down against Federer, who had not lost a match at Flushing Meadows since 2003.

But just eight months later, Del Potro was undergoing right wrist surgery in Minnesota, and did not reach another Grand Slam quarter-final until 2012.

The wrist was strong enough for him to contest the longest Wimbledon semi-final in history – a match of blistering power against Novak Djokovic in 2013.

But there would be many trips to Minnesota still ahead. The left wrist was now the problem wrist, and Del Potro missed nine Grand Slam tournaments in a row as he underwent three further surgeries.

• Andy Murray column: ‘I’m surprised how well I’ve played’
• Roger Federer loses number one ranking
• Live scores, schedule and results
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

The real Del Potro started to re-emerge in 2016. Victory in a three-hour-plus semi-final with Nadal at the Olympics Games in Rio guaranteed him at least a silver medal, and Andy Murray then had to be at his brilliant and stubborn best to deny him gold over four hours.

Del Potro often looks shattered, but appearances – and that languid walk across the court – can be deceptive. He would go on to beat Murray over five hours in their pivotal Davis Cup semi-final rubber in Glasgow, and then recover from two sets down in the Croatian capital Zagreb to beat Marin Cilic and help Argentina to their first ever Davis Cup title.

There was another victory over Federer to savour in last year’s US Open quarter-final, and then a run of 15 victories in the early part of this year as Del Potro won the titles in Acapulco and Indian Wells before reaching the semi-finals in Miami.

The 6ft 6in Argentine was, by his own admission, exhausted. So he took a five-week break from the tour which he said can at times be stressful.

“We have many good things on tour, but living in Argentina you must travel a lot,” Del Potro said.

“It is long flights to get everywhere – and maybe you have to be for one month, or one month and a half, far from your house or from your people, and that could be the worst part of the job.”

Del Potro likes to cook and to enjoy a traditional asado – barbecue – with friends and family when back home in Tandil, a town situated 245 miles south of Buenos Aires.

“I like to be in Tandil, and this is my simple life. Probably my happiest moments are when I am with them, and also sharing moments with my close people,” he continued.

The 29-year-old is also a practising Catholic and he was very upset by the theft of a rosary blessed by his compatriot Pope Francis.

One of Del Potro’s suitcases had been stolen as he stopped to sign an autograph in Paris before taking a train to London for the 2013 ATP Finals.

His faith, he believes, is a great help to him on court.

“Yes, a lot,” he said. “I always try to stay positive during the games and I never give up during a match. Also when I was injured, I never give up doing all the treatments and that’s helped me to keep fighting all the time.”

The wrist surgeries mean Del Potro still cannot use his double handed backhand as consistently as he would wish, but he says he feels as if he might be in the best shape of his life this year.

He is still surprising himself, and not least at Roland Garros, where he reached the semi-finals to match his career high ranking of world number four.

“It is something special for me, for my family, for the people who were behind me all the time,” he explained.

“I can get to semi-finals in Grand Slams in my worst surface, which is very important for my life, as well. And although the ranking is not my priority, when I’m so close to the first positions, it’s beautiful.

“I see that those who are in front of me are the same as 10 years ago, and they are the best players in tennis history. So it’s a beautiful image for me.”

He had a groin problem before Roland Garros, and pulled out of last week’s event at Queen’s to rest on doctors’ advice.

It can only be hoped that this big, friendly giant with a huge wingspan is at the peak of his powers at Wimbledon, as his thunderclap of a forehand echoes around Centre Court.

There would be very few more popular winners.

Andy Murray continued his competitive return to action with an impressive win over fellow three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka at Eastbourne on Monday, setting up a second-round meeting with his successor as British number one, Kyle Edmund.

In his regular BBC Sport column, the 31-year-old Scot talks about playing Edmund, his form in the early stages of his comeback, how the swimming pool is helping his recovery, and former coach Amelie Mauresmo’s appointment as France’s Davis Cup captain.

I am a little bit surprised at how well I’ve played so early in my comeback because I don’t feel like I’ve practised loads – not like I would have done in the past in the build-up to events.

The positive to that is I don’t necessarily have to practise for three hours a day before events like I would have done in the past – feeling like that is what I had to do to perform well.

Maybe that’s not the case now. Maybe I can rest my body a little more.

The movement is the most important thing I need to work on because all the guys who are playing at the top of the game can hit the ball extremely well.

In my first match back against Nick Kyrgios at Queen’s I was a little bit apprehensive with my movement, but the second match against Stan was a little better.

But I still think that can improve.

‘Comeback left me stiff and sore’

I wasn’t feeling great in the 24 hours after the match against Nick. I had soreness in the hip and stiffness in the lower back and the glutes.

On the grass, the ball stays lower so you’re bending down to a lot of balls, meaning soreness and stiffness would normally be the case after the first match on the surface, even if I’d been playing regularly.

But it was multiplied because it was my first match in such a long time.

My shoulder was also a little bit sore because it was the first time I’d served for a long time too.

It was just general body soreness, but after 48 hours I felt fine.

The day after a match last year I would have hit the following day, but after the match against Nick I was in the swimming pool, had a bit of massage, then spent an hour and a half with my physio.

I’ve been doing more in the pool recently and been doing that before matches too, getting in the pool to loosen up a little bit. That is something new that I haven’t done in the past.

I do aqua-jogging, stretching, different movements – leg swings and hip swings, no loading or impacting, trying to get the body moving again.

‘Kyle improving all the time’

In terms of playing Kyle on Wednesday, he’s a brilliant player – that’s the challenge, not because he’s a fellow Brit.

I played Tim Henman a few times when I was coming up, and Kyle a couple of times, but it is more the challenge of playing a really good player rather than someone who I know pretty well.

In the past 12-18 months Kyle has done fantastic things and is improving all the time.

I think he is playing better grass-court tennis than he had done in the past so it will be tough.

The atmosphere will probably be different because the crowd won’t necessarily want one particular player to win, they want to see a good match and will support both players.

‘Women working with male players should be normal’

I think it is good that Amelie Mauresmo has been appointed as captain of France’s Davis Cup team.

Certainly it was a big story when I was working with Amelie but ultimately you hope that female coaches working with male players is seen as normal.

I’m still being asked about it because it hasn’t quite got to that stage. There is a long way to go.

But there is absolutely no reason why someone of Amelie’s stature and ability, and what she has achieved, cannot help male players. She certainly helped me with lots of things.

I’m sure it will happen more in the future – she will do a good job.

Amelie has got a nice way about her, communicates well and that supports that team environment. Obviously tennis is largely an individual sport but when you come together for the Davis Cup and Fed Cup the captain has to keep everybody happy.

That is not always easy but I think she has the skills to do a good job in that respect.

I know she loved playing the Fed Cup herself so she will be passionate about competing for her country.

Andy Murray was talking to BBC Sport’s Jonathan Jurejko.

• Live scores, schedule and results
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray says he will only play at this year’s event if he is “ready”.

The 31-year-old Briton impressively beat Stan Wawrinka at Eastbourne in the second match of his comeback following hip surgery.

Wimbledon, which former world number one Murray won in 2013 and 2016, starts at the All England Club on Monday.

“If I feel like I’m in good enough shape then I’ll do it. But if I don’t then I won’t play,” said the Scot.

“I’m not putting any pressure on myself to make that decision after one or two matches here because I don’t need to.”

• Murray beats Wawrinka at Eastbourne
• Evans wins first Wimbledon qualifier
• Live scores, schedule and results

Murray, who has dropped to 156th in the world, is eligible to play at Wimbledon because he was still ranked inside the top 100 at the cut-off point for entry.

The draw will be made at the All England Club on Friday, but Murray says he might not be able to make a decision before then.

“It depends a little bit on here, I could obviously still be playing then,” he said.

“It’s the nature of the way our sport works that I could be competing in the tournament still, so I have no idea what’s happening on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

“I could potentially play a match on Friday of three hours and not feel good the next day.

“I can’t predict what is going to happen.”

Murray eased past Wawrinka, also a three-time Grand Slam winner, in straight sets at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.

It was only Murray’s second match since last year’s Wimbledon after being sidelined for 11 months following surgery on his right hip.

“I’m pretty positive that, maybe not this week or next week, but given a bit of time I can still compete with the best players again,” Murray added.

• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

Caroline Wozniacki eased to a straight-set victory over Camila Giorgi in her first match at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.

The top-seeded Dane, 27, beat Giorgi of Italy 6-2 6-3 in the second round and will now face either Briton Johanna Konta or Aleksandra Kruni of Serbia.

British wildcard Harriet Dart, 21, claimed a shock 7-5 3-6 6-3 win over Czech 11th seed Kristyna Pliskova.

Heather Watson suffered a 7-6 5-7 3-6 loss to France’s Kristina Mladenovic.

• Murray impresses in Wawrinka victory
• Evans wins first Wimbledon qualifier
• Live scores, schedule and results
• Follow Eastbourne live on the BBC

Watson, also a wildcard for the tournament, raced to a 5-2 lead in the first set before eventually winning it on a tie-break.

A tight second set followed but at 5-5 Mladenovic broke 26-year-old Watson’s serve to close out the set.

Mladenovic, 25, had the momentum and claimed the only break of the final set to clinch the match.

British number five Dart, ranked 181 in the world, clinched the biggest win of her career against a player 103 places higher.

Elsewhere, reigning champion Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic required three sets to clinch a 6-4 2-6 6-3 win over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.