Juan Martín del Potro reveals serious ailments before match against Novak Djokovic: “Six to eight tablets every day”

On Sunday, the now 36-year-old Argentine will take on Grand Slam record winner Novak Djokovic in Buenos Aires to say goodbye to the tennis fans in his home country once again.

He hopes to have “at least two or three hours of rest in my leg” – “to enjoy my last time on a tennis court,” said del Potro.

Del Potro played his last professional match in February 2022, but physically things had already gone downhill long before that. “I haven’t been able to run properly since I was 31. I can no longer climb stairs or kick a ball. Every day when I get up I have to take six to eight tablets” – to treat the pain and inflammation, but also against anxiety, as del Potro explained.

The Argentinian explained that he had to undergo a total of eight operations because he “could no longer endure” the pain in his legs.

Between 2018 and 2019, del Potro broke his right kneecap twice within eight months. However, he has not yet been able to bring himself to insert an artificial knee joint, which was recommended to him by some doctors.

At the peak of his career, the almost two meter tall giant was considered one of the few players who could keep up with the “Big Three” Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

In the US Open final in 2009 he beat Federer in five sets, and in 2018 he had no chance against Djokovic in his second Grand Slam final at the same place.