Three years ago, Juan Martin del Potro found himself outside of the world’s top 500 and pondering if he should retire from the sport permanently.
The woes started a year after he won his first grand slam title at the 2009 US Open as he underwent surgery on his wrist. Little did he knows that it would be the first of four operations that would be conducted on his wrist. Including three on his left alone. At his lowest, the Argentine could only play 14 matches in 2014 and 2015. Dropping down to a ranking of 1042nd in the world.
“I considered three years ago to quit tennis, to stop playing, because I had been suffering a lot.” He said during his press conference at the Rogers Cup. “I was depressed for a couple of months because I couldn’t find a way to fix the wrist problems.”
Despite the adversity, Del Potro did not throw in the towel as he started his comeback in February 2016. Since then, he has won four titles on the ATP World Tour, including his first Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells. Furthermore, he reached the semifinals of two majors at the 2017 US Open and 2018 French Open. Del Potro is currently at a ranking high of fourth in the world.
“You can imagine how happy I am playing tennis again and being in the top 5 position again after a long time, winning titles and maybe playing my best tennis ever.” He said. “I’m having one of my best season this year, and it’s amazing.”
“I never expected to be in this moment again after all my problems. So I just want to keep enjoying this second chance of the tennis life.”
The resurgence has been as much welcomed as it is feared by his rivals. Over the years Del Potro has built up a reputation as one of the nicest guys in the sport with a loyal fan base. John Isner once described Del Potro as ‘a big chill dude and doesn’t seem to have a worry in the world.’
Whilst the kind words of his rivals are welcomed, in a competitive environment it can sometimes be challenging to find the right balance between friendship and rivalry.
“We are fighting for the same goal, but, in the end, we are a normal people doing the same job. We know the rules when we are here in the stadium or on the court, but then we have good relations.” Del Potro commented about his rivals.
Del Potro is targeting his third title of 2018 at this week’s Rogers Cup in Toronto. His biggest success at the tournament occurred back in 2009 when he finished runner-up to Andy Murray. Since then, he has only been able to play in the tournament four times due to his injury woes of the past. Del Potro will start his campaign on Wednesday against Robin Haase.
