The beloved Del Potro returned to say goodbye. This is how he was moved on court by the chants of the crowd

Argentine tennis player Juan-Martín Del Potro announced last week that he will retire due to injuries and the tournaments in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro will be his farewell. The home fans prepared a great atmosphere for him.

Del Potro is one of the most popular tennis players on the circuit. Not only with his style of play, he won the fans especially with his humility, humanity, the Argentine is, in short, besides a great tennis player, a great person.

Last week, in tears, he announced that he would have to retire due to persistent pain. The Tandil native has been plagued by wrist and knee problems throughout his career, playing his last match in 2019, and has since undergone four surgeries on his right knee.

He has now returned to tennis, but it’s more because he wanted to say goodbye to his fans on court, not at a press conference. He was scheduled to play two tournaments, in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, but he lost to Federico Delbonis 1: 6, 3: 6 in his home country of Argentina.

But to the fans, he was a hero anyway. As is typical of Argentina’s passionate fans, they supported their darling for the entire match and gave him an unforgettable atmosphere. When chanting his name, Delpo even had to stop for a moment and wipe his tears of emotion in a towel.

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Del Potro thus played his last match in front of his home crowd and may have to cancel his scheduled appearance in Rio due to health problems.

“Right now I’m not sure if I’m going to Rio. I was looking forward to playing these two tournaments because I could experience a similar atmosphere in Brazil as I did today. Tomorrow I will talk about it with my team,” the 33-year-old Argentine said after the match.

“I think I have fulfilled all my tennis dreams and now I wish I could sleep without pain today,” added the 2009 US Open winner.

Source: Instagram, Livesport