{"id":20545,"date":"2025-01-19T08:59:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T08:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=20545"},"modified":"2025-01-19T08:59:16","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T08:59:16","slug":"novak-djokovic-made-gracious-gesture-to-juan-martin-del-potro-24-7-news-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=20545","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic made ‘gracious’ gesture to Juan Martin del Potro – 24\/7 News America"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Novak<\/picture>Novak Djokovic will face Juan Martin del Potro in Buenos Aires on Sunday (Image: GETTY)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Juan Martin del Potro believes Novak Djokovic was \u201cvery generous\u201d to accept an invitation to play against the Argentine in a farewell match in Buenos Aires. The two tennis icons are set to go head-to-head on Sunday in a match being billed as The Last Challenge.<\/p>\n

Del Potro, who won the US Open in 2009, was forced to retire from tennis in 2022 after failing to overcome injury issues.<\/p>\n

He reached world No. 3 during his playing days and secured numerous victories over legendary trio Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cI want to arrive at that match in the best shape possible,\u201d Del Potro explained in an Instagram video ahead of his showdown with Djokovic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a match to say goodbye. Djokovic was very generous in accepting my invitation. I want to give him all the love possible. If at least for one, two or three hours I can be in peace and happy on a tennis court, it will be beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Del Potro spoke at length about his injury issues during the 11-minute video. And he heartbreakingly admitted: \u201cWhen I played the last match against [Federico] Delbonis [at the Argentina Open in February 2022], the next day I took a flight to Switzerland and had another knee operation. That was my fifth surgery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Novak<\/picture>Juan Martin del Potro broke down in tears during his match against Federico Delbonis in 2022 (Image: GETTY)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n

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\n

\u201cFrom then on, I never made my surgeries public again, because in the press conference prior to my match with Federico I said that it was possibly my last match.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere I found a little peace and ended something that constantly happened to me, which was, \u2018Delpo, when are you playing again? When do I see you again at a tournament?\u2019 I couldn\u2019t take it anymore because of the pain in my legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I had to do this in a low profile, in secret, and if it works I\u2019ll make an announcement that I\u2019m really coming back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was there for about two months in a town near Basel. They operated on me, there were rehabilitations, but it didn\u2019t work. After two-and-a-half months, they told me that there was another little thing left, that we had to operate again. Sixth operation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThen I left for the United States and I continued rehabilitating. Between surgeries I tried treatments, I must have had more than 100 injections in my leg, hip and back. This is how I have been since that day with Federico until today.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he added: \u201cI really don\u2019t have any more hope of playing again because my body doesn\u2019t allow it. It\u2019s very hard having to put on a facade 24 hours a day, it\u2019s very complicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I have no more energy \u2013 the leg consumes me. It consumes me emotionally because I\u2019m not just in search of improving, but also living the day-to-day struggles.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juan Martin del Potro has reacted to a gesture from Novak Djokovic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"\nNovak Djokovic made 'gracious' gesture to Juan Martin del Potro - 24\/7 News America - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=20545\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Novak Djokovic made 'gracious' gesture to Juan Martin del Potro - 24\/7 News America - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Juan Martin del Potro has reacted to a gesture from Novak Djokovic.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=20545\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-19T08:59:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/15.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"526\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"789\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=20545\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=20545\",\"name\":\"Novak Djokovic made 'gracious' gesture to Juan Martin del Potro - 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