US Open winner has admitted to depression and thoughts of retirement while overcoming wrist and knee injuries
Last June Juan Martín del Potro announced he would be undergoing surgery on his fractured right knee. The video of his announcement is brutal. Even beyond the revelation he was unsure if he had already played the final match of his career, it is the sight of welling tears as he fiddled with his fingers that is difficult to watch. Del Potro already seemed shattered then, but after six months of rehabilitation, consulting doctors and changing his diet, even everyday activities like walking up stairs were still painful. In January, he revealed his second surgery with a simple text statement. It seemed to be a reflection of where his head was at.
Since 2010 Del Potro has missed around four years of his career with four wrist surgeries and now two surgeries on his right knee. When he has been healthy enough to take the court, there have been only small periods, after long months of slowly readjusting his wrists to the stresses of tennis, that he has been able to play freely without the fear of his body directing his decisions on and off the court.