Juan Martín Del Potro
is away from the courts, forced by the physicality of his knee, but close in terms of spirit.
But this Wednesday, the man from Tandil trusted that he would have to
start training
to fulfill a promise that he made from the title that the Argentine National Team obtained in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar: try to participate in the next US Open, which he already won in 2009.
"If Argentina won the World Cup I was going to try to play the US Open. Now (Lionel) Messi and the team put me in training. I still have a lot of pain. Before Qatar I didn't have it in mind, but now I think about it a lot"
, the "Torre" from Tandil slipped, in statements to the
Tennis News
site .
The man from Tandil officially said goodbye to the circuit in February of last year, when he took part in the Argentina Open at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club and fell in two sets against
Federico Delbonis
from Azul .
Gone were a long series of frustrations due to injuries and surgeries on both knees.
Despite the difficulty it represents for him to return to the courts, the Buenos Aires native wants to fulfill his promise and maintained that he will "train again."
Photo: REUTERS/Danny Moloshok
Del Potro, winner of the silver medals at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games and the bronze medal at London 2012, reached his best historical position in the ranking in August 2018, when he placed third for three consecutive weeks.
For this reason, he also affirmed that his pending account was "to be number 1".
"The only thing I lacked was to be number one in the world. It was always a dream and I always worked to be the best, but I am also very proud of my career," said the tennis player, 34 years old and 1.98 meters tall. .
"I never made it because they were (Rafael) Nadal, (Roger) Federer or (Novak) Djokovic. When I look at the ranking or see the years of my career and who I was fighting to be number one with, it's also very nice to know that they were those who didn't let me achieve that dream," he said.
What is Del Potro doing in San Pablo?
The man from Tandil is in San Pablo because he is the Ambassador of a tournament that brings together 32 of the best Under 16 rackets in South America (16 boys and 16 girls) and that will give the champions a wild card to play the Roland Garros junior tournament .
A unique opportunity, which is even more special due to the presence of the man from Tandil.
The dream of playing in the Parisian Grand Slam is one shared by all South American players, who are trained and take their first steps in professionalism on clay.
And thanks to this event, called "Roland-Garros Junior Series by Renault", two young tennis players will be able to fulfill it.
The tournament was born from a collaboration between the French Tennis Federation (FFT), the South American Tennis Confederation (COSAT) and the Brazilian Tennis Confederation (CBT), with the support of the International Federation (ITF), which governs the junior circuits. .
It will summon players from ten countries in the region, the host Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, on the powder courts of the Sociedade Harmonia de Tenis, in the capital of São Paulo.
The albiceleste representatives are Luna Cinalli, from Santa Fe, 14 years old and 155th in the junior world ranking;
Sol Larraya Guidi from Tandil (15th and 172nd) and Valentín Garay from Ushuaia (also 15th and located in the 774th step of the classification).
The two champions will earn a place to play in the junior main draws in Paris, something that would otherwise be out of the reach of the Argentines, since the "cut" for the big tournaments in juniors is around 60th place. of the ranking.
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