Stefanos Tsitsipas pays tribute to Juan Martin del Potro
World No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas says he is sorry to see through what Juan Martin del Potro has been going through. Del Potro, 33, has battled various injuries throughout his career and has had way too many injury breaks. Del Potro’s last major injury came at the Queen’s Club in 2019, when he fractured his kneecap.
Del Potro has had four surgeries since to repair the damage but the knee is still causing him pain. Del Potro will likely retire after playing Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. Del Potro worked hard over the last few months so he could just play at least one more time and give a proper goodbye to tennis.
Tsitsipas, a former world No. 3, has nothing but a great respect for del Potro. “It’s a tragic situation, and I must admit that I am surprised by the energy and passion he has put in to continue to be able to play.
He was always a player that I looked up to and really enjoyed watching him. I learned a lot from his game,” Tsitsipas said of del Potro, according to We Love Tennis.
Tsitsipas set to play Rotterdam
Tsitsipas, who made the Australian Open semifinal, is aiming to win his first Rotterdam title this week.
In Rotterdam, Tsitsipas said he has moved on from his 2021 French Open final loss. Tsitsipas was up by two sets against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic before the Serb stormed back to win the title. “I have completely forgotten about my Roland Garros final.
It is a good achievement but I don’t want to be the guy that holds a runner-up trophy. I wanna be more than that,” Tsitsipas said. Last year, Tsitsipas made the Rotterdam semifinal before losing to Andrey Rublev. It remains to be seen if Tsitsipas can go a step further in Rotterdam this year.
Source : tennisworldusa
