Because Del Potro was left without an ATP ranking as he dreamed of playing a tennis match again

Those images from last February at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis in Palermo still resonate in the memory of tennis fans and Juan Martín Del Potro. And for the man from Tandil, this Monday will also be special because he was officially banned from the ATP rankings due to his inactivity.

Is that the 33-year-old Torre has only played one game since June 2019 and, after the decisions due to the coronavirus pandemic, and those 23 points which kept away from the fact that the queen’s ATP vanished.

Delpo had entered the rankings in 2004, at the age of 15, when in the Future Argentina 3, at the Highland Park Country Club in Pilar, he beat Matías Niemiz, 1048th in the world in two sets in the first round.

The man from Tandil appeared on the chart as the 1415th in the world in the week of May 24 and has remained there ever since.

Last week he was ranked 761, but since Monday, on the ATP website, his ranking has been empty. He was 3rd in August 2018arguing with the Big Three formed by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, but the fractured right knee patella changed his plans.

There were four operations until the emotional match he played against Frederic Delbonis at the ATP in Buenos Aires, last February, which marked his return (and farewell?) to the professional circuit after 965 days. Later, Del Potro was tasked with pointing out that he would prioritize his health, on or off a tennis court.

The 2016 Davis Cup champion and double Olympic medalist confessed in one of his few public appearances what went through his head before his return to the brick dust of Buenos Aires.

“It was very difficult for me to make the decision to play. I appreciate the advice but I need it. My physical and tennis condition is what it showed. I knew my reality.”marked by the “Tower”.

“Throughout my career I have let things happen because I believed better things would come. It was my time to close this nightmare. I do not close the window that a miracle like what happened with Murray could happen. Tennis is the world. my passion.”discussed his partial retirement and possible return.

Indeed, after those statements, it was learned that he went to Switzerland to try to advance his rehabilitation at the Rennbahnklinik sports clinic, in the municipality of Muttenz, where other tennis players such as Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece), Fabio Fognini (Italy) and Pablo Andújar (Spain).

Later he was at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami as a special guest and commented on social networks on the recent duel between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for the quarter-finals of Roland Garros.

While dreaming of returning to competing at a professional level, Del Potro seems to be preparing for a new appearance on the field: a few weeks ago the newspaper The nation reported being the chosen rival for a performance with Nadal himself, next November at the Mary Terán de Weiss stadium in Parque Roca in the city of Buenos Aires.