JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO has opened up about the “never-ending nightmare” his life has become due to horrendous knee injuries.
The Argentine, 36, who won the US Open in 2009, played his last professional game in January 2022.
He attempted a comeback last year and targeted a return to the US Open, but abandoned those plans due to his physical condition.
Del Potro was plagued by injuries throughout his career and underwent his first knee surgery in 2019 having fractured it the previous year.
Five years on and he has now had eight surgeries but is still in extreme pain.
And the former world No3, who will play a farewell exhibition against Novak Djokovic in Buenos Aires on December 1, has released a video on social media documenting the torture he continues to go through.
Speaking on Instagram, he said: “When I had my first surgery in June (2019), the doctor told me I would play in three months. I even signed in for three indoor tournaments at the end of the year.
“After that first surgery until today, I’ve never been able to go up a set of stairs without pain.
“It hurts many times when I try to sleep, when I turn on my side, or when I wake up because I get these sharp pains. It’s like a never-ending nightmare that I’m trying daily to find solutions and alternatives for, but I can’t find them.
“It all started with that first surgery… every time I think about it, it stirs up so much bad emotion; it makes me really angry, very frustrated, but I can’t change it.
“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. They took me the chance to do what I loved the most, which was to play tennis.
“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 times I have to fake it and put a good face, but many times I feel terrible.”
Del Potro, who earned £21million in prize money during his tennis career, revealed he has even considered a prosthetic to relieve the pain.
He added: “There are doctors that tell me that I can put a prosthesis so I can regain some life quality. But others tell my that I’m too young for a prosthesis. They tell me to wait until I’m 50.
“But since I was 31, I can’t run, I can’t climb stairs, can’t kick a ball, never played tennis again. I need to wait 15 years more of this? It’s terrible.
“I hope this will finish someday, because I want to live my life without pain.”
Del Potro’s best Grand Slam performance aside from his US Open triumph came in his final appearance in New York nine years later.
He reached the final at Flushing Meadows before losing to Djokovic in straight sets.
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