Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro believes it is only a matter of time before rival Novak Djokovic is back at the top of his game.
The Argentinian No.1 has received praise from Djokovic over his high-profile battle with injury. Between 2014-2015, Del Potro underwent three wrist operations and contemplated retirement from the sport before staging a successful return to the tour. He is now ranked sixth in the world rankings after winning two titles this season. Including his first Masters 1000 trophy in Indian Wells.
“Del Potro comes to mind. He’s someone that has faced even worse challenging circumstances with two, three years of [problems], couple of surgeries, coming back, playing, not playing really well, and then having to retire so many times.” Djokovic said earlier this week.
“And now he’s back to top 10, top five of the world. That’s impressive. Those kind of stories inspire you, and hopefully I can do the same.”
In recent months Djokovic has been hampered by an elbow injury, missing the second half of the season last year. Since his comeback, the former world No.1 has experienced a roller coaster run on the tour. Winning 11 out of 18 matches so far this year prior to the French Open.
Following his first round win against Nicolas Mahut at Roland Garros, Del Potro said he is ‘happy’ that his experience is helping his rival. The two players have played each other 18 times on the tour since 2007. Djokovic currently leads their head-to-head at 14-4.
“If it can help him, I’m very happy, because he’s a good friend on the circuit.” Said Del Potro. “I hope that he will continue to manage and be in the position he should be. I can understand his frustration, because I went through it for a long time, and not that many people know what it’s like.
“When he loses and when they always ask him from one tournament to the other if he’s better, if he’s going to be able to play or not, I can imagine what this does to him. It’s really very painful.”
Speaking about Djokovic’s current form on the tour, the 29-year-old believes he will start achieving a high level of consistency very soon. Prior to the French Open, Djokovic reached his first semifinal of 2018 at the Italian Open.
“I’m sure in a very short time he’ll start lining up good wins.” He concluded.
Djokovic will play his second match against Jaume Munar on Wednesday. Meanwhile, del Potro will play wither Leonardo Mayer or Julien Benneteau later in the week.
