{"id":6661,"date":"2024-12-02T02:18:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T02:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6661"},"modified":"2024-12-02T02:18:32","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T02:18:32","slug":"del-potro-ends-his-tennis-career-after-beating-djokovic-in-emotional-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6661","title":{"rendered":"Del Potro Ends His Tennis Career After Beating Djokovic In Emotional Match"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Another legendary tennis career came to an end after\u00a0Juan Martin Del Potro\u00a0officially retired after beating\u00a0Novak Djokovic\u00a0in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

Del Potro is one of the players who possess an incredible talent, but unfortunately, due to injuries, he wasn’t able to fully fulfill his potential. He reached the World No. 3 rank on the\u00a0ATP\u00a0Tour at the height of the Big Three, and he’s also the 2009 US Open champion.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to compete since 2018 when he won the Indian Wells Open and ended the year as the fifth player in the rankings. In 2022, he made a comeback attempt at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, but he lost the match to Federico Delbonis 1-6, 3-6.<\/p>\n

After the match, Del Potro hung his famous headband over the net, signaling that it was likely his last-ever match, but he never confirmed that, leaving many wondering whether he would attempt another comeback.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/center><\/div>\n

Recently,\u00a0Del Potro announced that he would play his final career match against Novak Djokovic in Buenos Aires, and the exhibition was thematically named The Last Challenge, with the match taking place at the Estadio Mary Teren de Weiss, also known as Parque Roca in Buenos Aires, Argentina.<\/p>\n

Prior to the meeting, the Argentinian player\u00a0revealed the brutal truth behind his injuries, explaining that he isn’t able to enjoy some day-to-day activities and also that he had to undergo another surgery after his attempt to come back in 2022, something no one knew about.<\/p>\n

For his farewell match, Del Potro chose Djokovic as his opponent. The two faced off 20 times on the ATP Tour, and even though the tall Argentinian won “only” four times, those four matches were some of the most important in their rivalry, as he beat his Serbian rival twice at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
Sunday, 01 December 2024<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It was also because of Del Potro that Djokovic chased the gold Olympic medal until this year when he finally won one in Paris. After the season, he moved to Argentina, and it wasn’t a surprise how highly he spoke about his rival prior to their meeting.<\/p>\n

\n

“His career is legendary as it has been, but I believe that, as all of us here would agree, he has had bad luck with injuries. Surely his career could have been greater if he had not had knee injuries. I have had some serious injuries, but not with such bad luck as him.”<\/p>\n