Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro will play his farewell match against Novak Djokovic in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The match is called “The Final Challenge” and will take place on December 1 at Parque Roca. Del Potro posted a video on his Instagram handle discussing his injuries and day-to-day struggles. The Argentinian revealed that his physical condition has deteriorated to the point where even basic daily activities are a struggle. He described the extent of his limitations.
“I haven’t run since I was 31, I can’t climb a ladder, I can’t kick a ball, I never played tennis properly again,” he said. He also shared the challenges he faces daily: “I get up and take between 6 and 8 pills, an anti-inflammatory, a painkiller, and another for anxiety. Hopefully, one day it will end, because I want to live without pain.” The Argentine legend says it all started after his first surgery in June 2019 and since then he has been in pain. “It’s been a never-ending nightmare. It all started with that first surgery. Every time I think about that I still get emotional. I feel terrible.”
After his last match against Delbonis
Del Potro’s last match was against Federico Delbonis in Buenos Aires, in 2022. He said:
“Nobody knew this, but the day after I played my last match against Delbonis I took a flight to Switzerland and I had my fifth knee surgery. Since then I never made my surgeries public again as I found some peace in the press conference before that match against Federico, saying it would probably be my last match. People stopped asking me constantly when I would come back and play again. I did all this process secretly and if it worked I would announce that I would come back.
I spent two months in Switzerland, in a village close to Basel trying to rehabilitate and it didn’t work. After 2.5 months, I had my sixth surgery. I went back to the U.S.A. More rehab, over 100 injections everywhere. Infiltrations, daily suffering. It’s been my life since that match vs. Federico.”
This is extremely sad, and the fact that he’s been in this for years is so heartbreaking. This is an overlooked dark side of professional sports. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but for some athletes, it practically destroys the rest of their lives physically. Rafael Nadal in his book said: “Playing sports is a good thing for ordinary people; sports played at the professional level is not good for your health. It pushes your body to limits that human beings are not naturally equipped to handle.”
Juan Martin del Potro was a heavy man and all those sudden accelerations, stops, and twists must have put excessive pressure on his joints. He said that he has had eight knee surgeries so far. He had one of the best forehands of all time. If not for all these injuries he could still be playing today. No sportsperson should have to go through this post-retirement. Hopefully, he finds a solution to get rid of the daily pain.
Main Photo Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
