“I’m leaving happy”: Del Potro says goodbye to Djokovic | ATP Tour

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“I’m leaving happy”: Del Potro says goodbye to Djokovic

The Argentine lived an unforgettable night in Buenos Aires

December 02, 2024

Juan Martín del Potro’s headband has been left hanging once again over the net of a tennis court in Buenos Aires. The image went around the world in February 2022, and was repeated this Sunday in an exhibition match against Novak Djokovic that paid tribute to his career and, incidentally, the Tandil native ended up winning 6-4, 7-5.

The former No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings had announced that the 2022 ATP 250 in Buenos Aires would most likely be his last professional tournament, and upon losing to his compatriot Federico Delbonis, amid ovations from his audience and wrapped in contradictory emotions that made him cry even before the last match point of his professional career, he hung his headband on the net.

But even then I wasn’t sure I was putting an end to it. In the end, repetitive injuries to his right knee decided that he would never return, and hence the decision to organize an exhibition match against the most-time Grand Slam winner in history: to officially say goodbye and pay tribute to his own career.

🐊😍🐊😍🐊😍@DjokerNole | @Lacoste | @delpotrojuan pic.twitter.com/RkfQzSkfKJ

— ATP Tour en Español (@ATPTour_ES) December 1, 2024

The tears were announced early, when the singer Abel Pintos appeared before the warm-up and moved the 36-year-old from Tandil with his voice and by giving him his guitar. Once the match began, there were sparks of that ‘DelPo’ who knew how to be one of the biggest threats of the Big-4 at the most dominant moment of this group made up of ‘Nole’, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

The 2009 US Open champion and winner of 439 matches on the ATP Tour won the first set before starting a mixed doubles duel that lasted a few games and also featured Argentine legends Gabriela Sabatini and Gisela Dulko. Then the men’s singles resumed and the local team ended up taking the match at Parque Roca.

The greeting on the network was the most moving of the night. Del Potro and Djokovic hugged each other through tears. Then the Argentine left his headband over the net again, in an act of final farewell to tennis. The stage lived up to his legacy, especially Djokovic.

“Lately I feel Juan Martín closer to my heart. I don’t know a single person who doesn’t love Juan Martín. “Everyone loves him,” said the Serbian in Spanish. “He is an example for all of us. “His greatest victory in life is that he is a wonderful person.”

And ‘DelPo’ was not only sheltered by ‘Nole’ and more participants on the court, but also by a generous audience that included several celebrities in the stands, from his colleagues Diego Schwartzman and Francisco Cerúndolo to the soccer players Carlos Tévez and Maximiliano Rodríguez. In addition, a video was played on stage with greetings from great tennis players such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.

Many reasons, in any case, for Juan Martín to remain moved. “Know that I am not sad. Even if I cry, I promise you that I leave happy. Thank you very much for all these years and see you soon,” he said.