“I came close to quitting several times,” Juan Martin del Potro told me back in 2016. At that time, he had fought his way back to the top of the tennis world after one of his many injury-related breaks. At the Olympics in Rio, he sensationally made it to the final, although after the draw he had already thought about a cozy barbecue in the Argentine homeland. Novak Djokovic was his Olympic opening opponent at the time, del Potro defeated him and was then only slowed down by Andy Murray in a competitive match for gold.
Del Potro was celebrated during these Olympic Games by his compatriots, who waved their blue-white-blue flags, wore the national football team jerseys and repeatedly chanted “Delpo, Delpo”. Del Potro was close to tears, he seemed happy in those moments of Rio.
Six years later, the now 33-year-old “Tower of Tandil”, as del Potro was also called due to his origin and the 1.98 meter height, could no longer hold back the tears. On Tuesday evening, he played his last professional tennis match.
The court Guillermo Vilas at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club was once again jam-packed for the occasion. 5500 Spectators, including such greats as Gabriela Sabatini, many friends and for the first time also his mother, watched del Potro lose to compatriot Federico Delbonis 1: 6 and 3:6.
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Before the probably last serve of his tennis career, they flowed, the tears of Juan Martin del Potro. His fans stood up and sang their “Delpo, Delpo” again. Later on the pitch, he said: “I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.” And: “I’m reassured, because my last game was probably on the court, and not in a press conference.“
He had given them in his home country before the tournament and had already indicated his departure there. The Argentina Open was also a kind of comeback for him, as del Potro had not played a single professional match for more than two years. Most recently, the knee had slowed him down, after a fracture of the right kneecap at the end of 2018, he could not get rid of the pain. From then on, tennis was no longer to be thought of.
Del Potro’s rise to the top of the world had started like a fairy tale in 2008
His career had once started so fantastically. As a teenager, he won his first ATP tournament in Stuttgart’s Weissenhof in 2008, followed by three more titles in the weeks after. And a year later, he achieved something that no one before and after, except Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, managed or should succeed: he defeated the great Roger Federer in a Grand Slam final.
At the 2009 US Open, del Potro’s star finally rose, a new tennis star was born. One that the experts trusted not only to challenge, but also to defeat the then big two, later then big three.
Del Potro performed fearlessly in those days. His forehand hissed through the air like a whip, the serve was a single thunderstorm. For this, the Argentine seemed to have nerves of steel. Against Federer, he was already set and break back in that memorable final of Flushing Meadows, later coolly won two tiebreaks and had actually unnerved the Swiss – after he had previously celebrated 40 victories in a row at the US Open and won the tournament five times in a row
But this triumph for del Potro should remain the only great individual success. Because only a little later it went downhill with him rapidly. Initially, there were rumors about mental problems, but in fact it was the right wrist that caused him grief. He had to be operated on several times and when he finally went up, the left wrist no longer played along.
In between, del Potro repeatedly hinted at the potential that lay dormant in him. Already in 2012 he took Olympic bronze, after silver in 2016, the Davis Cup victory with Argentina followed. In between, he had missed nine consecutive Grand Slam tournaments from 2014 due to injury.
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But del Potro did not want to give up yet, also because he was carried away by the enthusiasm of not only his compatriots. The “gentle giant”, as he was also called, was considered one of the most popular players on the tour due to his reserved, almost shy nature. He was celebrated worldwide, especially at the tournaments in America. And at the 2018 US Open, he experienced one last big highlight and once again played his way into the final, which he lost to Djokovic. It was his last big break.
With Juan Martin, a great one leaves the stage of tennis, one who might even have had what it takes to be a great one. But his body always reminded him that everything has its price. Del Potro paid him and that’s probably why he said after his last match on Tuesday: “Today I wish that after two years I can sleep without pain in my leg.“
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