Tennis star still wants to go back to the court
“When I get up, I have to take six to eight tablets”
Tears on the pitch: Juan Martin del Potro
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire
His pain can only be endured with tablets.
He was once Argentina’s tennis hope, Grand Slam winner and a great fighter. These days, Juan Martin del Potro is fighting with his body. However, he doesn’t miss one last appearance on the court.
Juan Martin del Portro must take six to eight tablets per day
He was the great hope of Argentine tennis. When Juan Martin del Potro won the US Open against Roger Federer in five sets in 2009, he had a country at his feet. But the now 36-year-old would only appear in a Grand Slam final once more. In 2018, shortly before things went steeply downhill, he had no chance against Novak Djokovic in the same place.
The steep sporting and physical decline began, triggered by recurring health problems. In 2024, the almost two-meter-tall giant will be in poor physical condition. “Every morning when I get up I have to take six to eight tablets”reports the former top tennis star with a sad look in a highly emotional internet video.
Painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, but also anti-anxiety pills – del Potro can’t live without them these days. The battered body still strikes back brutally almost three years after the official end of his career. “I just want to live my life without pain,” says the 36-year-old. “It’s very difficult to maintain a facade 24 hours a day.”
“I haven’t been able to run properly since I was 31.”
Del Potro dragged himself to 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,” he explains today.
After a total of eight operations, del Potro’s knee is in ruins – he has never recovered, especially from the two kneecap fractures in 2018 and 2019.
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Nevertheless, he wants to go back to his beloved tennis court one last time. On Sunday (December 1st) del Potro wants to play what will probably be his last show match – against Novak Djokovic. The opponent against whom he played his last major final.
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Del Potro really wants to say goodbye again. Saying goodbye to “his” fans in Buenos Aires. “Delpo” as he is affectionately known there, hopes to have “at least two or three hours of rest” in his knee – “to enjoy my last time on a tennis court”. (never/sid)
