The first time that Argentine tennis player Juan Martín del Potro announced a possible retirement from the professional circuit was at the beginning of 2022. That February, Del Potro played his last professional match at the Buenos Aires Open. It had been almost three years since his last injury, this time a second fracture in his right knee. Many other injuries had kept him away from the tour for entire seasons, since his first in the abdomen in 2008. But he had always been able to return. And win.
That time, four surgeries were not enough. Dressed in black, the Argentine bounced the ball with his racket as he prepared to serve. He lost 1-6, 3-5 (30-40) to his compatriot Federico Delbonis. His left hand moved down from the white headband on his forehead towards his eyes, and it was clear that the emotions of his potential last point as a tennis player had become uncontainable. Del Potro cried for two minutes straight, while the crowd applauded in a communion between the tennis player and his fans. It was as if they were trying to hold up their idol when he couldn’t take it anymore.
It is easy to go to YouTube and find videos about the “tragic” career of Juan Martín del Potro. The fans are moved and share how sad it is to think about what could have been, about the Grand Slams that he could win, in all the sacrifices that did not work. All the years of tennis we missed. But to understand Del Potro as someone who succumbed to the bad luck of sport is to leave aside all his triumphs, not only his trophies, but also his power to return from the ashes again and again.
Between endless bad luck, 14 injuries and eight surgeries, Del Potro became the best tennis player in Latin America of the last 20 years, one of the best tennis players in a generation full not only of great talents, but also of unattainable competitors. , like the Swiss Roger Federer, the Spanish Rafael Nadal, the Serbian Novak Djokovic or the Scotsman Andy Murray.
In 2022, Del Potro lost that point and, with it, the match. Taking off his white headband, he looked at the ground, and his eyes did not seem to want to see anything other than that clay that had felt him win so many times.
The sacrifice of the athlete who reaches the top of his discipline is thought of as a necessity to perform consistently in the most important spaces of elite sport. And it is. But many times the understanding escapes us that the athletes we see on television, in the great Grand Slam championships, lifting trophies and receiving multimillion-dollar checks, are the tennis players whose sacrifice came to bear fruit. Statistically, they are not the majority.
But Del Potro was champion more than once. He was crowned champion of the 2009 US Open, managed to lead the Argentine team to win the Davis Cup for the first time, after reaching the final four times in its history, and was an Olympic medalist twice, one of which he won over Djokovic , after returning from an entire year recovering from his wrist. And so, each of his titles not only shows us how good, but also how brave he was.
Once again, on December 1, Del Potro returned. And he won.
This time it was he who received for the game. On the blue court of the Parque Roca stadium (renamed the Mary Terán de Weiss stadium in 2007), in Buenos Aires, the Argentine walked while adjusting the strings of his racket. Djokovic, who denied Del Potro a second Grand Slam title at the 2018 US Open, was chosen by the Argentine to help him say goodbye to professional tennis in a tribute match. This time there were no doubts. Del Potro said goodbye to the sport for which he sacrificed the future of his body, which today endures pain every day.
That’s when Djokovic waved his arms up, asking the crowd for more noise, more applause at an important point. The stadium applauded his compatriot and Del Potro could only smile. A tender exchange of glances between the Argentine and the Serbian predicted an unorthodox serve. It is there that Djokovic pushes the ball towards the service zone, while Del Potro positions himself, and gives us a flat, perfect cross forehand. Djokovic, in the middle of the baseline, waits for the ball with open arms. On the other side, the Argentine throws his head back and smiles, as we saw him do so many times when winning a match. The tears came as he hugged his teammate and adversary on the net. But they were different tears. They did not seem to be sad or insecure, but rather grateful: the joy of a tennis lover who has the opportunity to play in a packed stadium, and with one of the best tennis players in history, once again.
The nostalgia that we fans have for Del Potro’s electric tennis always makes us feel like we would have wanted more time with him. Being able to witness his serve, the strength of his forehand and the angles and depth he could reach, especially on the run, the coverage he achieved with his volley, how well he moved around the court – more so for a 1.98 player meters high –, his anticipation, creativity, and his mental capacity to come back from adversity at the most important points, and moments,.
To focus incessantly on what Juan Martín del Potro could have been is to detract from everything he achieved: not only all his match wins, but also returning to the sport of his loves, even when his body seemed to prohibit him from doing so. Seeing him play once again, not through tears of pain but of euphoria. That’s how I will remember it.
2024-12-04 05:41:00