Federer was crushed 3-6 6-3 6-4 by Del Potro in the initial two display matches all through his tour of South America.

The world’s No. 2, who’s visiting Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, boasts a record of 13-4 against Del Potro, but the Argentine has won the last two, (but not counting Wednesday’s event match) – defeating Federer in the Basel closing before a victory at the ATP World Tour Finals.

His first victory against Federer came in this year’s US Open Finals, where he stunned the world No. 1 3-6 7-6( 5) 4-6 7-6( 4), 6-2 to earn his first and only grand slam title to date.

But having just lately came back to his most recent hand injury that caused him to miss all the 2010 season, Del Potro is back in the world’s top, and Federer feels the 24-year-old is on an curve.

Federer claims that Potro is already among the best, and states that with attention to fine detail, he can obtain #1 status in the world at some point.