Juan Martin del Potro is set to return to where he won the biggest title of his career as part of his ongoing recovery from a fourth knee operation.
La Nacion newspaper has confirmed that the 32-year-old will visit the US Open where he won his first and only major title in 2009. Del Potro hasn’t played a competitive match since June 2019 after fracturing his kneecap knee during a match at The Queen’s Club. Since then, the Argentine has suffered various setbacks in his bid to return to the Tour.
It is understood that the former world No.3 will train at the Billie Jean Tennis Centre and have a hitting session with tennis great John McEnroe. Journalist Sebastian Torok, who originally broke the story, says Del Potro hopes attending the Grand Slam will help him feel part of the Tour once again.
“Del Potro has the desire to energize himself with the great atmosphere of the US Open, to show himself and feel – little by little – again part of the tour,” Torok commented in his report for La Nacion. “For this reason, he decided to return to a court on the hardcourts of Flushing Meadows, the same one in which he was consecrated in 2009, after the historic final against the Swiss Roger Federer.”
It is expected that Del Potro will be at the tournament next Tuesday for his practice session but he has made no public comment himself on the arrangements. In his most recent post on Instagram less than a week ago, he uploaded two photos of him hitting on a tennis court in Florida.
Providing an update on the Argentine’s current health, Torok says there continues to be ‘some discomfort’ in his knee. Although the chances of a comeback early next year are still high.
“(He is) still with some discomfort in the operated knee but healthy, increasing the intensity of the training in Key Biscayne, where he already practised with different juniors,” he said.
“Del Potro’s goal is to continue evolving and having a strong preseason at the end of the year with a view to 2022, thinking about a return in Australia or, above all, in Delray Beach.”
Besides winning the US Open over a decade ago, Del Potro also reached the final in 2018 which he lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic. Though he has achieved high success during his career by winning 22 ATP titles, injury has marred his progress. In total, he has undergone eight surgeries with four being on his knee, three on his right wrist and one on his left wrist.
Del Potro has won more prize money than any other Argentinian player in history with earnings of more than $25M.
