Novak Djokovic to play Juan Martin del Potro in ‘goodbye’ exhibition

Novak Djokovic is set to compete in a farewell exhibition match with Juan Martin del Potro, who has revealed that he feels ‘terrible’ after retiring from the sport two years ago.

Del Potro played his final official match at the Argentina Open against Federico Delbonis in 2022, in what were very emotional scenes in Buenos Aires.

The Argentine is a former World No.3 and US Open champion, but has endured a series of injury setbacks throughout his career that have required multiple surgeries.

Just over a year after winning his only Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, Del Potro slipped on the grass at Queen’s Club in 2019 to begin his struggle with a right knee injury, that ultimately brought an end to his career.

Del Potro underwent four different surgeries on this right knee between June 2019 and March 2021, before eventually announcing that he would play his final tournament at the 2022 Argentina Open.

However, the 36-year-old has now revealed in a lengthy social media video that he had hoped to make a comeback after undergoing two more secret surgeries on his right knee, but they have not been successful in achieving that goal.

“Nobody knew this, but the day after I played my last match against Delbonis I took a flight to Switzerland and I had my fifth knee surgery,” said Del Potro. “Since that, I never made my surgeries public again as I found some peace in the press conference before that match against Federico, saying it would probably be my last match. People stopped asking me constantly when I would come back and play again.”

The 22-time title winner continued, “I did all this process secretly and if it worked I would announce that I would come back. I spent two months in Switzerland, in a village close to Basel trying to rehabilitate and it didn’t work.

“After two-and-a-half months I had my sixth surgery. I went back to the USA. More rehab, over 100 injections everywhere. Infiltrations, daily suffering. It’s been my life since that match against Federico.”

Del Potro went onto explain the toll this injury has had on his day-to-day life, taking ‘six or seven pills’ everyday, including some for anxiety.

“I’m still looking every day for a solution. It all started with that first surgery. Every time I think about that I still get emotional. I feel terrible,” explained Del Potro. “My daily life isn’t what I would like it to be. I can’t play football, I can’t play padel. It’s terrible. It’s very tough.

“There are moments where I have no more strength. I’m not indestructible. I have good things, bad things but most of the time I have to fake it and put on a good face, but many times I feel terrible.”

He added, “Every day when I wake up I have to take six or seven pils. Gastric protectors, anti-inflammatories, one for anxiety. Then the pills made me gain weight so they told me to stop eating some things.”

Despite all of his recent struggles, Del Potro has announced that he will be taking to the court one more time in Buenos Aires next week against 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

And Del Potro is hoping to put all his pain aside for at least a few hours, “I started my diet, I’m losing weight, I’m training. I wanna arrive that match in the best shape possible.

“It’s a match to say goodbye. Djokovic was very generous in accepting my invitation. I want to give him all the love possible. If at least for one, two or three hours I can be in peace and happy on a tennis court, it will be beautiful.”

The farewell exhibition between Del Potro and Djokovic entitled ‘El Último Desafío’, that translates to ‘The Last Challenge’, takes place this Sunday (1st December) at the Estadio Mary Terán de Weiss.

El partido despedida de Del Potro vs el psicopata Novak Djokovic será transmitido de manera gratuita por Telefe 🔵🟢🔴 pic.twitter.com/YMH8LfRjIR

— Solo Tenis Picks🇦🇷 / Apuestas Deportivas Free (@solotenispicks) November 22, 2024

Inside the baseline…

It is hard to think of a tennis player or sports person that has had as much bad luck as Juan Martin Del Potro. Having four surgeries on your wrists alone is one thing, but to then go and have a further six on your knee is just heartbreaking. Despite this, Del Potro has achieved so much in his career and is remembered so fondly as a phenomenal player and perhaps more importantly a very good person. Hopefully Del Potro can get some form of peace in Buenos Aires on Sunday and find a solution to this constant struggle in his day-to-day life.

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