Comeback of Juan Martin del Potro: "... then I will continue to lie to myself out of love for tennis"
Juan Martin del Potro is still fighting for his comeback. However, it doesn't look too rosy at the moment, as he admitted in a conversation with the Argentine platform of ESPN .
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Nov 28, 2020, 02:38 pm
"It's hard for me to go back," said del Potro, who was recently spotted hitting the ball again. After another knee operation. "I'll fight as long as I feel like I want to go on."
Del Porto is considered the bigger unlucky person in tennis. The US Open Champ from 2009 has undergone several operations on his right and left wrist and has already returned several times, in 2016 only with a half-hearted backhand and a mediocre slice. But the Argentine still fought his way to Olympic silver, a final at the US Open and the top ten. In 2018, however, he broke his right kneecap, since then it has only been enough for short comebacks, two more knee operations followed in 2019 and 2020.
His self-imposed limit to resigning? I've exceeded it several times, admitted del Potro. "I had it for the third wrist operation. Fortunately, I didn't do it. Then it was for the second and third knee operations. Now my goal is the Olympic Games," said the now 32-year-old. If this is enough for me, "then I will continue to lie to myself out of love for tennis, because I want to step back on the tennis court."
del Potro on Maradona: "There is no one who can bring people together like that"
The death of fellow countryman Diego Maradona hit "Delpo" a lot. "In tennis you have to be as calm as possible. But it transmitted an energy that nobody else had," he recalled. Maradona was also at the Davis Cup final between Argentina and Croats in 2016, "it was more important than our games." During these days he also met Maradona regularly in private. "At the Davis Cup final I saw him alone every night without anyone knowing about it, 10 to 15 minutes before going to bed." Maradona wrote him a nice message after the victory - and he gave him his bat in return.
Those who had seen Maradona would keep him with them forever. And apparently Maradona also had the honor of enjoying the famous del Potro hugs. "Diego was just up to my chest, and every time I saw him I took him in my arms and he said nothing to me." The funeral was correspondingly tough and he didn't have time to say goodbye to him. "I don't think there is anyone else who can bring people together that much," said Delpo.