WATCH: “More of a farewell than a return” Juan Martin del Potro BREAKS DOWN in press conference as he is set to announce retirement after long struggle with injuries
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Juan Martin del Potro
2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro is undoubtedly one of the greatest tennis players to come out of Argentina and to date remains the last Argentine man to win a Grand Slam. Apart from his two successive Olympic medals, he also led Argentina famously to their 2016 Davis Cup title inscribing his name in Argentine record books.
Juan has been troubled with his wrist and knee injuries throughout his career that have haunted him at regular intervals of his career. His first wrist injury happened in 2010 and saw him give up his US Open title without any title defence while dropping to outside Top-250. His second injury took place in 2014 that kept him out for 2 years only to return to 2016 in a highly successful season.
He picked up injuries again in 2019 and has been on and off the Tour since then. Currently, ranked 757th in the world, the Argentine will return to Tour at the upcoming 2022 Argentina Open where he has hinted that he is considering retirement as his body is not supporting his will to continue.
“Before I start this conference I would like to send a message. I have spent a lot of time thinking and imagining about this day, and I think this is one of the most difficult messages I will ever deliver. I know that people are expecting me to return to tennis, but this may be more of a farewell than a return. I have the strength to go forward but my knee is becoming a nightmare,” said del Potro in his press conference.
“Still not found a solution”: Juan Martin del Potro
The Argentine talked about opting for different treatments but nothing has turned fruitful for him and while he is not yet sure about taking retirement, the options are quite limited for him to return successfully on the Tour.
“I have been trying alternative treatments for a number of years, with different doctors and attempts to fix it. But I have still not found a solution. But I never imagined retiring from tennis without having the chance to say goodbye and I can’t imagine a better tournament than Buenos Aires to do it.
“After these weeks we will see what happens with my future, but I am clear that I want to live like a person of 33 years and try to not have pain. It’s a difficult decision, but I wanted to make it clear,” said del Potro in the special press conference where he hinted towards his possible retirement.
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Sarthak Shitole
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