Forgotten tennis champion Juan Martin del Potro has opened up on his injury-cursed career and heartbreaking health struggles that have forced him out of the game and public eye.
The big hitter from Argentina, who won the trophy at Flushing Meadows in 2009, has taken to Instagram to share details of the mental and physical toll he has gone through over the years, and still continues to battle through.
“My daily life isn’t what I would like it to be,” Del Potro said.
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“I can’t play football, I can’t play padel (tennis). It’s terrible.
“They took (from) me the chance to do what I loved the most, which was to play tennis.”
In 2018 Del Potro fractured his right kneecap at the Shanghai Masters. Then, in 2019, he again damaged his knee when he slipped during the Queen’s Club Championships.
“When I had my first surgery in June (2019), the doctor told me I would play in three months. I even signed in for three indoor tournaments at the end of the year,” he said.
“After that first surgery until today, I’ve never been able to go up a set of stairs without pain. It hurts many times when I try to sleep, when I turn on my side, or when I wake up because I get these sharp pains.
“It’s like a never-ending nightmare that I’m trying daily to find solutions and alternatives for, but I can’t find them.
“It all started with that first surgery … every time I think about it, it stirs up so much bad emotion. It makes me really angry, very frustrated, but I can’t change it.’
Del Potro, 36, last played a professional match in Argentina at the start of 2022.
“It’s very tough. There are moments where I have no more strength. I’m not indestructible. I have good things, bad things but most of the times I have to fake it and put a good face, but many times I feel terrible,” he said.
“Every day when I wake up I have to take six or seven pills. Gastric protectors, anti-inflammatories, one for anxiety.
“Then the pills made me gain weight, so they told me to stop eating some things.
“One thing are the stones that can appear in your way — like the injuries that can affect all athletes — but the other thing is the emotional pain. I felt so powerful when facing those obstacles, but after all (of it) I understood that I’m not that strong.
“That knee beat me.
“I had eight surgeries, with doctors all around the world. Every time they gave me the anaesthetic, I hoped that the problem would be solved and after 2-3 months, I was always calling the doctors to tell them that the surgery didn’t work.
“There are doctors that tell me that I can put a prosthesis so I can regain some life quality. But others tell my that I’m too young for a prosthesis. They tell me to wait until I’m 50.
“But since I was 31, I can’t run, I can’t climb stairs, can’t kick a ball, never played tennis again. I need to wait 15 years more of this? It’s terrible. I hope this will finish someday, because I want to live my life without pain.”
He said after having his fifth knee surgery in 2022 in Switzerland, he decided to keep his medical procedures a secret.
“Since (that operation), I never made my surgeries public again as I found some peace in the press conference before that match against Federico, telling (the media) it would probably be my last match,” he said.
“People stopped asking me constantly when I would comeback and play again. I did all this process secretly and if it worked I would announce that I would comeback.
“I was in Switzerland for two months in a village close to Basel trying to rehabilitate and it didn’t work. After two-and-a-half months, I had my sixth surgery. I went back to the USA. More rehab, over 100 injections everywhere. Infiltrations … daily suffering. It’s been my life since that match (against) Federico.”
Now, Del Potro is hoping to say his final farewell to the tennis world in an exhibition match against Novak Djokovic in Buenos Aires.
“I started my diet, I’m losing weight, I’m training. I want to arrive at that match in the best shape possible. It’s a match to say goodbye,” Del Potro said.
“Djokovic was very generous in accepting my invitation. I want to give him all the love possible. If at least for one, two or three hours I can be at peace and happy on a tennis court, it will be beautiful.”
– With AAP