Juan Martin Del Potro Announces Sad News

Juan Martin Del Potro retired from his third round match at the Shanghai Masters 1000 event earlier last week. The Argentine was down a set and has since undergone tests to find out what the problem is. His agent Jorge Viale, took to his Twitter account to announce that Del Potro had suffered a fracture in his right patella bone.

“It’s a very difficult moment”, said Del Potro in a press conference. “I feel very sad. It’s a hard blow that leaves me without strength. It’s very difficult for me to think about recovery again, I did not expect this to happen”, he added. Del Potro is now at a risk to end his remainder of 2018 season much earlier than he thought he would. The Argentine is set to miss the Basel open and will also be in doubt for the Paris Masters as well as the year end Nitto ATP finals.

The former US Open champion had qualified for the year end Nitto ATP finals for the first time since 2013, and after achieving a career high ranking earlier this season, Del Potro looked like he had finally turned around his career after his injury related issues. However, this incident is most likely to create a dent in Del Potro’s confidence and goals. Del Potro was one of the five people who have already qualified for the ATP finals. Zverev, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the others who have qualified for the year end tournament.

Marin Cilic, Kevin Anderson and Dominic Thiem are the others who are hoping to qualify for the Nitto ATP finals. Kei Nishikori and John Isner will be included if Del Potro and Rafael Nadal announce their withdrawals. It remains to be seen if the Argentine manages to recover in time for the ATP finals, as his doctors evaluate his condition in the coming weeks.