Juan Martin del Potro drops first reaction to joining Roger Federer & Svetlana Kuznetsova as Hall of Fame 2026 nominee

Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro & Svetlana Kuzentsova have been announced as the nominees for the 2026 International Tennis Hall of Fame, with fan voting opening as well.

Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, retired from the sport in 2022, having played his final official singles match in 2021 at Wimbledon. Del Potro, a former US Open champion, retired officially from tennis in 2022. However, the Argentine tried making a comeback after that, which ended in vain. His farewell match came in 2024 in his home country, where he was joined by Novak Djokovic.

Kuznetsova, a two-time singes Slam champ and two-time doubles Slam champ, retired from the sport in 2021, after earning more than $25 million in prize money. The Russian was ranked as high as World No. 2 in singles, and won the US Open and French Open in singles.

On Wednesday, their nominations were announced by the Tennis Hall of Fame for 2026, following which Del Potro took to social media to share his jubiliation.

"What an honor and a privilege to be nominated for such a recognition. Thank you very much," he wrote.

Juan M. del Potro

@delpotrojuan

What an honor and a privilege to be nominated for such a recognition. Thank you very much @TennisHalloFame 😊

Federer is likely to be a shoo-in for the recognition, as multiple Slam champions usually are. As of now, there are 270 players recognized in the Hall of Fame, with Maria Sharapova, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan getting the nod this year. Players with single Grand Slam titles are not entirely absent, albeit rare -- Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Goran Ivanisevic are some names who have received the honor in recent years.

The fan voting for 2026 is also live, where fans can vote for all three of Federer, Del Potro and Kuznetsova. The player getting the most votes will get 3% points added to their tally, followed by 2% and 1% for the next two. To get inducted into the Hall of Fame, a player must get at least 75% of the votes -- combining the scores of the fan voting and the official voting members.

Previous Hall of Fame members from Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro & Svetlana Kuznetsova's countries

Laver Cup 2025 - Day 2 - Source: Getty

If Juan Martin del Potro enters the Hall of Fame, he will be the third Argentine to do so, following Gabriela Sabatini and Guillermo Vilas. On the other hand, Svetlana Kuznetsova could become the fourth Russian, following the footsteps of Yevgeny Kafenikov, Marat Safin and Maria Sharapova.

Interestingly, only one player representing Switzerland has been inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame before Roger Federer's 2026 nomination -- the legendary Martina Hingis.