BUENOS AIRES, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) — Former Argentine tennis player Juan Martín del Potro today recounted the physical ailments he suffers, and assured that he feels “trapped in a body” that does not respond to him.
The 2009 US Open champion, 36, uploaded a video to his Instagram account to promote the exhibition match he will play on December 1 at Parque Roca, in Buenos Aires, with Serbian Novak Djokovic.
“In a few days, we will share together the final point of the best chapters of my life with tennis,” he wrote in the message.
In addition, he indicated that “I want to be able to give them back from within and with Novak a beautiful moment of so much love and affection, and for them to take away a beautiful and emotional memory of that night. See you soon.”
In the video, he gave details of his physical ailments due to which he had to retire from tennis in February 2022, suffering from a series of injuries for which he was inactive for several months.
“They infiltrated me, they took out my tendons, they burned my nerves… a daily suffering,” he expressed and stressed that he can no longer enjoy activities such as football or paddle tennis.
“My daily life is not what I want. I was a very active guy, who liked to play sports, not just play tennis,” he said.
“Delpo” said that he has to take “between six and eight” tablets daily and that at night he wakes up “not because of the pain, but because of the helplessness of not being able to do” what he likes.
“It is a difficult decision, because, on the one hand, they tell me that at that age I will live well, but on the other, I feel trapped in a body that does not respond to me,” he emphasized.
In his career he underwent eight surgeries, four on the right knee and the rest on the right and left wrists.
The double Olympic medalist (bronze in London 2012 and silver in Rio de Janeiro 2016) suffered his first right knee injury at the Shanghai Masters 1000, on October 14, 2018.
His only Grand Slam title was achieved at the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Swiss star Roger Federer in five sets.
The former tennis player gave Argentina the first and only Davis Cup in its history, in 2016, when it beat Croatia 3-2 in Zagreb after four lost finals (1981, 2006, 2008 and 2011).
