Getting to Know Ramon Delgado

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England have already experienced some success against Paraguayan opposition over the past week, getting their World Cup campaign off to a winning start against their South American counterparts last Saturday. But one man hoping to give his country some consolation is their No. 1 tennis player Ramon Delgado, who meets British favourite Tim Henman in the second round of the Stella Artois Championship on Wednesday.

Delgado, a fan of Olimpia back home, has never played against Henman, but the 29-year-old from Asuncion will be looking to cause an upset having impressed in his 6-4, 7-6(3) first round victory over Czech Lucas Dlouhy on Monday.

It was Delgado’s first win on grass since he reached the second round at Nottingham in 1999, when he defeated Swiss Marc Rosset before losing to Andrew Ilie. And having failed to win a match at Wimbledon in his four previous visits, grass is by no means his favourite surface.

However, the most famous victory of his 11-year professional career came against seven-time Wimbledon champion and two-time Stella winner Pete Sampras, albeit at Roland Garros in 1998, his best year on tour. That year he finished a career-best No. 56, becoming the first Paraguayan to finish in the Top 100 since 1984, and the first to reach a final on the ATP circuit since Victor Pecci in 1985, when he did so in Bogota.

It was a time in Paraguay, for so long only passionate about football, when tennis – and Delgado - began to pick up some headlines.

“When I reached the final in Bogota, and when I beat Sampras in ’98, it was a big thing in my country because we don’t have much tennis,” said Delgado. “That was for sure my biggest victory – it was in Paris, he was still No. 1 at the time, so it was very big thing.

“It was really hard growing up playing tennis, especially in Paraguay, we don’t have a lot of support in tennis, it’s all football. But I always had my family’s support, which was very important to me. My parents always were behind me and still are, so to me that’s the most important thing.”

The following year, he hit a peak at No. 52 in April, before an on set of injuries caused a steady decline in the Paraguayan’s career. He missed the first five months of 2000 with a serious knee injury and had surgery at the end of season. Three years later, he needed left wrist surgery that forced another long-term absence, this time for six months.

But 2005 sparked a mini-revival for Delgado, who jumped from No. 333 at the end of 2004 to finish last season just outside the Top 100 at No. 107, winning a Challenger title in Lubbock and going 30-20 overall on the circuit. This year, again playing mainly in Challengers, he won the title in Mexico City.

Backed by his Ecuadorian coach Raul River, the two have formed an important partnership over the years. “He has brought me everything,” says Delgado. “I was 20 years old and struggling - the juniors to the pros is very different. At 20 I was still a junior and he taught me everything. He’s a very important person in my career, no question about it.

“We were together for five years from ’97 to 2002 then he went to work with another player, now we’ve been back together for a year.”

While Henman may prove a step too far for a man with little grass court experience, he may have picked up enough tips having grown up admiring and watching idols Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Sampras and former Wimbledon champion Andre Agassi, who know a bit about playing on this surface.

For a man who says his strengths “change from day to day at the moment,” Delgado may pose Henman some important questions in the second round.

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