Juan Martin del Potro is facing another hard time of his professional career. Warming-up for the french open, his body, might not wanna take a full commitment for the second Grand Slam of the year. It was the season of 2012 last time when he made an appearance in Roland Garros' main draw, and it seems that another year will go by without the Argentine star grinding the dust in Paris.
According to ESPN, the 28-year-old is experiencing pain in his shoulder and on his back which might be the reason of his recent decay. The 2009 US Open champion is finding himself once more fighting injuries, a scenario that comes in with the highest cost.
How injuries changed a career course
Back in 2009, del Potro stunned the entire world after his glorious run at the US Open where he capped the tournament by crushing Roger Federer in the final. It seemed like a promising start to a brilliant future. Once the injuries came in taking their toll, the whole construction collapsed. Taking long breaks in order to recover, del Potro lost contact with the top tennis performance. Despite some enthusiastic comebacks, he is now facing another nightmare.
Last year, he was on the verge of doing something quite special reaching the final in Rio. That silver medal is an extraordinary achievement given the circumstances. It was a great year for him scoring wins against Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon or against Novak Djokovic at the Olympics in Rio.
He put his hands on one ATP title in Stockholm, and it seemed that the upcoming season might bring a new guy at the biggest table especially after his run at the 2016 US Open where he reached the quarterfinals.
Del Potro and his slow start in 2017
In order to keep things in balance, the Argentine chose the prudent path by skipping the first part of the season including the Australian Open.
He made a comeback in February, but the success was not there yet. So far, in 2017, his biggest win over a top player is the recent success he had against Kei Nishikori in Rome. Each time he had to deal with a high-ranked player he couldn't produce the amount of damage required.
In the past, it was something on his wrists causing him nightmares; now some other body parts are failing.
The former ATP no. 4 now ranked 30th in the world might be in a delicate situation. The upcoming months means that he must defend some points meaning that his hard earned spot could be in danger. The upcoming French Open is a place where he had the most successful year back in 2009 reaching the semifinals.
