Juan Martín Del Potro has not played professional tennis since June 2019, when he appeared on the lawn of Queen’s, London. That time, Denis Shapovalov for the first round “class =” com-link “data-reactroot =” “> a slip on the end of his victory against Denis Shapovalov for the first round of the tournament he opted for bad news: the tandilense decided to withdraw from the tournament due to the blow. Since then, he has undergone four right knee surgeries. However, the Tandilense, faithful to that identity of resilience that he forged while recovering from other injuries in the past, still has a chance to play on the circuit again. This year he was seen advancing with his rehabilitation. The tennis player published several photos of him from training sessions in brick dust. And this afternoon, also on his social networks, he specified that he intends to play at the beginning of next year in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.
“I continue to train with everything, sometimes better days than others, but always with the hope of returning to the field at the beginning of next year. It would be very special to be back in Buenos Aires and I also want to play in Rio. In the coming weeks I will tell you how I am evolving “Delpo wrote on his Instagram account.
When he visited the last US Open to “recharge and add some good vibes,” the 33-year-old had said he was playing the game of his life. On that occasion, he was able to rally with American legend John McEnroe. There, in Flushing Meadows, it was the former world number 3 himself who had opened the possibility of reappearing on the tour next February during the South American tour on brick dust, something that was surprising since he usually preferred to play in the ATP from Delray Beach, in the US Florida, on hard surface. “I do not know if it is convenient for me to return in a tournament to five sets. There are alternatives. And in Argentina I never played if it wasn’t for Davis Cup. And there is a tournament at the beginning of the year ”, Del Potro had said in the American city.
Del Potro officially played in Argentina in five Davis Cup series, although on the ATP Tour he only did so once, in 2006. In that season, he achieved his first victory on the ATP Tour: for the first round of Viña del Mar, 6-2 and 6-2 against the Spanish Albert Portas. A few days later, the Buenos Aires tournament gave him an invitation and the Tandilense (he was 17 years old and was 155th in the ranking) took advantage of it, leaving a good image in his debut: he lost in the 1st round against the Spanish Juan Carlos Ferrero by 6 -2, 4-6 and 6-4.
Since then, he has never returned to the country’s most traditional ATP. His choice for hard surface tournaments at the same time of year, his wide differences with Martín Jaite (tournament director) and injuries kept him from that possibility, year after year. But now it was he himself who opened the door. The ATP of Buenos Aires then appears as the scene of his return. It will be played between February 5 and 13 of the next year. The ATP 500 Rio Open, which was not organized this year due to the pandemic, will take place immediately: from February 14 to 20 in Rio de Janeiro.
“It has always been a dream to have Del Potro play the Rio Open and we hope to make it come true in 2022. Since we closed the agreement that he would make his return to the circuit in South America we have been following the long process of knee recovery. , expecting it to be 100% in February. I hope that the Brazilian public, who are as fond of Guga as the Argentines, will join in this positive trend so that we can see him in action in Rio, ”Luiz Carvalho, director of the Rio Open, said today.
