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Former Argentine tennis player Juan Martín del Potro received Serbian Novak Djokovic on Sunday, hours before an exhibition that will mark his retirement and stressed that the former world number 1 “is still the best.”
“Tennistically there is no one like him today.”
Hours before the match they will play on Sunday at the Parque Roca stadium in Buenos Aires, Del Potro celebrated Djokovic’s arrival and highlighted that the winner of 24 Grand Slam titles “was very generous to me. I hope you have a great day, that people receive you as the athlete, the athlete and the person you are.”
Djokovic, 37 years old and currently ranked 7th in the world rankings, landed in Buenos Aires on Saturday afternoon, and as soon as he arrived he went to the Monumental stadium to be part of the gala prior to the final of the Copa Libertadores in which Botafogo defeated Atlético Mineir 3-1
The Argentine, who became number 3 in the world in 2018, won 22 titles, including the 2009 US Open, and two Olympic medals, bronze in London 2012 and silver in Rio de Janeiro 2016, before suffering a fracture of the right kneecap, from which he never fully recovered, which is why he played his last official match in February 2022.
“It was a great pride to win important titles in the same era of the Big 3 (made up of Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal). They are from another dimension. Novak completed the wheel of our sport, it is something unique in history. The titles achieved, the achievements, in a few years I will be able to say that I stole (won) them from them and I have them in my house,” said the Argentine.
Djokovic and Del Potro faced each other in 20 official matches, with 16 wins for the Serbian and 4 for the Argentine, who beat him on a couple of occasions at the Olympic Games, while the former number 1 defeated him in the finals of the 2018 US Open and Shanghai 2013, among others.
“It is a great pleasure to return to South America, to Argentina, after eleven years. This time it is very exciting. ‘Delpo’s’ career is legendary. It was an honor when he asked me to come. It was an easy decision when he called me to tell me which was his last match,” Djokovic said.
The rivalry we had was very great, we lived wonderful moments, in the largest stadiums of our sport, but in the last period we made a great friendship. “We are here to celebrate Juan Martín’s career,” said the Serbian.
“And [Del Potro] Had he not had injuries, his career would have been greater. I have been luckier with injuries in my life. Injuries are the biggest adversary of professional athletes. What I observed with Delpo is sad for me. Although we are here to celebrate his career, he has many things to be proud of,” Djokovic added.
The Serbian recently hired the British Andy Murray as coach in 2025, and in this sense he said that “I wanted my coach to be a legend of our sport. Andy has known me since he was very young. He knows the good, the bad and how I evolved in my game. He also knows (Jannik) Sinner and (Carlos) Alcaraz, who are the best right now.”
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