LONDON: The future of Juan Martin del Potro’s injury-stricken career hangs in the balence after he admitted that he was unsure if he will play again.
Earlier this week at the Fever-Tree Championships in London, the former US Open suffered a fall during his first round match. Causing damage to his right kneecap for the second time in the past year. Del Potro has only been able to play in five tournaments this season due to injury with only one of those occurring during the first four months of the year.
Providing an update on his current health in a video, the 30-year-old confirmed that he will undergo surgery on Saturday in Barcelona after receiving medical advice.
“As you might know I fractured my right patella once again. After medical studies and talking to the doctors they said surgery was the best treatment.” Del Potro said in an Instagram video.
“I had asked them for the best option health-wise, not just for tennis. They said surgery, no doubt about it.”
Elaborating further, Del Potro admitted that he was unsure if his win over Denis Shapovalov at Queen’s earlier this week was the last of his entire career. A sober admission from a player who has missed a total of three years of the tour since 2010 due to various physical setbacks.
“As you can imagine this is a tough moment, it’s sad to go through all this once again. I didn’t expect this at all. But it will happen tomorrow.” He said.
“I cannot say anything more than that. I don’t know what will happen next. Hopefully, I will have a good recovery. I hope my knee can heal properly.
“If that match was the last of one my career, that I don’t know. During rehab I will be able to think clearly. I will know what my body is able to do.”
Del Potro has already undergone four wrist surgeries since 2014. Three of his left wrist and one on his right. At his lowest, he could only play in six tournaments during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. It was during that period when he pondered retirement before staging a successful comeback.
So far in his career, Del Potro has won 22 ATP titles and been ranked as high as third in the world last year.
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