Juan Martin Del Potro’s injury woes continue as the Argentine had to undergo another surgery on his troublesome right knee in Switzerland on Wednesday. It was the third procedure he has had on the knee since fracturing his patella at the 2018 Shanghai Masters.
The operation was carried out by Doctor Roland Biedert in a clinic in Bern, his management team said on Wednesday.
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“Del Potro and Biedert had been in contact since January,” Del Potro’s team wrote in a statement on Twitter. “In recent months, Delpo followed his doctors’ advice and even tested the knee on a tennis court in Buenos Aires, but the pain persisted. After their first meeting in Bern, Biedert recommended a new surgery.”
The Argentine, who has been hobbled by injury ever since his breakthrough win at the 2009 US Open, has undergone several surgeries in his career. He has had an operation on his right wrist in 2010 and three on his left wrist in March 2014 (joint), January 2015 (ligament) and June 2015 (tendon).
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Del Potro, 31, overcame that adversity, reaching a career-high World No. 3 in August 2018 and also made the final of the 2018 US Open. He last competed at the 2019 Queen’s ATP, where he re-injured his knee during his first-round win against Denis Shapovalov.
He had undergone surgery for it in Barcelona only days later and another one in Miami in January but hasn’t been able to come back since.
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World No 1 Novak Djokovic, who beat him in the 2018 US Open final, said Del Potro was one of the most ‘unfortunate’ players with regards to injury.
“I hope to see him soon. No one wants to play tennis more than him right now,” Djokovic said in New York, where he is competing at the Western & Southern Open.
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“I love him and that I support him and I send him my best wishes. I don’t know what more I can say, he’s probably one of the most unfortunate players that I’ve known with injuries.
“The quality of tennis he possesses and with the time he’s played in his career, he already has an amazing career. It’s really unfortunate to see him struggle so much.”
