{"id":76315,"date":"2024-11-30T07:45:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T12:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=76315"},"modified":"2024-11-27T11:57:15","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T16:57:15","slug":"juan-martin-del-potro-talks-about-heartbreaking-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/11\/30\/juan-martin-del-potro-talks-about-heartbreaking-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Juan Martin Del Potro Talks About His Heartbreaking Struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro<\/a> 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<\/a> 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I haven\u2019t run since I was 31,<\/span> I can\u2019t climb a ladder, I can\u2019t kick a ball, I never played tennis properly again,\u201d 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.\u201d <\/span>The Argentine legend says it all started after his first surgery in June 2019 and since then he has been in pain. <\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s 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.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After his last match against Delbonis<\/h2>\n

Del Potro’s last match was against Federico Delbonis in Buenos Aires, in 2022. He said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“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. <\/span>I did all this process secretly and if it worked I would announce that I would come back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>