Former US Open champion who won £21million in career earnings says life has turned into ‘never-ending nightmare’

JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO has opened up astir the "never-ending nightmare" his beingness has go owed to horrendous genu injuries.

The Argentine, 36, who won the US Open successful 2009, played his past nonrecreational crippled successful January 2022.

He attempted a comeback past twelvemonth and targeted a instrumentality to the US Open, but abandoned those plans owed to his carnal condition.

Del Potro was plagued by injuries passim his vocation and underwent his archetypal genu country successful 2019 having fractured it the erstwhile year.

Five years connected and helium has present had 8 surgeries but is inactive successful utmost pain.

And the erstwhile satellite No3, who volition play a farewell accumulation against Novak Djokovic successful Buenos Aires connected December 1, has released a video connected societal media documenting the torture helium continues to spell through.

Speaking connected Instagram, helium said: "When I had my archetypal country successful June (2019), the doc told maine I would play successful 3 months. I adjacent signed successful for 3 indoor tournaments astatine the extremity of the year.

"After that archetypal country until today, I’ve ne'er been capable to spell up a acceptable of stairs without pain.

"It hurts galore times erstwhile I effort to sleep, erstwhile I crook connected my side, oregon erstwhile I aftermath up due to the fact that I get these crisp pains. It’s similar a never-ending nightmare that I’m trying regular to find solutions and alternatives for, but I can’t find them.

"It each started with that archetypal surgery… each clip I deliberation astir it, it stirs up truthful overmuch atrocious emotion; it makes maine truly angry, precise frustrated, but I can’t alteration it.

"My regular beingness isn’t what I would similar it to be. I can’t play [football], I can’t play Padel. It’s terrible. They took maine the accidental to bash what I loved the most, which was to play tennis.

"It’s precise tough. There are moments wherever I person nary much strength. I’m not indestructible.

"I person bully things, atrocious things, but astir of the times I person to fake it and enactment a bully face, but galore times I consciousness terrible."

Del Potro, who earned £21million successful prize wealth during his tennis career, revealed helium has adjacent considered a prosthetic to relieve the pain.

He added: "There are doctors that archer maine that I tin enactment a prosthesis truthful I tin regain immoderate beingness quality. But others archer my that I’m excessively young for a prosthesis. They archer maine to hold until I’m 50.

"But since I was 31, I can’t run, I can’t ascent stairs, can’t footwear a ball, ne'er played tennis again. I request to hold 15 years much of this? It’s terrible.

"I anticipation this volition decorativeness someday, due to the fact that I privation to unrecorded my beingness without pain."

Del Potro's champion Grand Slam show speech from his US Open triumph came successful his last quality successful New York 9 years later.

He reached the last astatine Flushing Meadows earlier losing to Djokovic successful consecutive sets.