Argentine Juan Martín del Potro confesses that before suffering the injury to his right knee when he was three in the world, he was going “for Djokovic and Rafa (Nadal)”, and that he does not want to leave something he loves like that, when referring to tennis , because he deserves to “finish in good shape.”
“Throughout my career, injuries were the most difficult games I had to play. I had another knee fracture when I was 3 in the world and I thought I was going for Djokovic, Rafa… It is clear that not recovering is slowing me down ”, explains the Tandil player in statements on the ATP Tour website.
Juan Martíno shared a talk through Instagram with the basketball player Manu Ginobili to distract the fans during the period of confinement due to the health emergency of COVID-19, and in it he sends a message of commitment to the established quarantine protocols, and offers details of the rehabilitation work he performs in Argentina, after undergoing a second operation on his right knee in January, and spending two months doing rehabilitation in Florida,
Already from his native land, Juan Martín comments: “I usually sleep little. These days I was moved by a video of a little boy, who sent an audio to his grandfather telling him that he missed him a lot and that when the coronavirus passes he is going to visit him. The grandfather told him that he also loved him and that you have to be patient. I felt, from my place, that the sooner that child can see his grandfather, the better. The more we respect the rules, the sooner I will be able to go to Tandil to see my parents. Everyone at home can do the activities. Doctors and nurses will be able to go to rest. They are constantly putting their lives at risk. “
“Now I want to continue playing, I want to compete again. But it is also true that it is costing me a lot due to knee problems. I had surgery twice, I am in the recovery of the second surgery. The doctors are optimistic and say that I will do well. But when the day to day and reality do not respond to what they plan, the amount of thoughts that cross the head is great. It becomes a bit complicated ”, adds del Potro.
I’ve had ups and downs. I went through that moment of thinking about looking for another way, to stop suffering so much, to look the other way. Then I have days when I say I don’t want to leave something that I love like that. I deserve to finish in a good way and enjoy the time that I want. Despite the pain that I still have, I am in that way of continuing to rehabilitate ”, he acknowledges.
“I can’t go to the supermarket because I just got home from a trip and I’m not allowed to do that either. I have to get through this any way I can. I’m not going to lower my arms because I want to play again ”, he points out. «When you are injured it is difficult. The first feeling is ‘I’m going to be at my house, with my dog, with my friends, doing barbecue’. Everything one cannot do during the season. But there is a window of days for this. Then I watch the tournaments on television, do my exercises, do my routine. But when my routine is to talk to the kinesiologist and say what time we meet, what device we use, … it is quite exasperating. Because it is not what one is used to ”, reflects del Potro. EFE.