Juan Martin del Potro shared some heartbreaking moments from his "never-ending" injury nightmare he has endured in the last five years.
The 2009 US Open champion divulged that he underwent eight surgeries on his right knee and detailed the brutal effects the issue has had on his everyday life.
Del Potro fractured his right kneecap at the 2018 Shanghai Masters and, after making a successful comeback, injured the knee again when he slipped on the grass at the 2019 Queen's Club Championships.
After that, del Potro was able to play just one more match - an opening round loss to compatriot Federico Delbonis at the 2022 Argentina Open almost three years later. He was forced to abandon plans for another comeback at the US Open last year.
The Argentine, who won 22 ATP singles titles and reached a career-high ranking of world No 3, was also sidelined for lengthy spells earlier in his career due to serious wrist injuries.
Here are del Potro's key quotes from an emotional and powerful 11-minute video shared on his Instagram account:
"Nobody knew this, but the day after I played my last match against Delbonis [in 2022], I took a flight to Switzerland and I had my fifth knee surgery (translated from Spanish).
"Since that, I never made my surgeries public again as I found some peace in the press conference before that match against Federico, telling it would probably be my last match.
"People stopped asking me constantly when I would comeback and play again. I did all this process secretly and if it worked I would announce that I would comeback.
"I was in Switzerland for two months in a village close to Basel trying to rehabilitate and it didn't work. After two-and-a-half months, I had my sixth surgery. I went back to the USA. More rehab, over 100 injections everywhere. Infiltrations… daily suffering. It's been my life since that match vs. Federico.
"When I had my first surgery in June [2019], the doctor told me I would play in three months. I even signed in for three indoor tournaments at the end of the year.
"After that first surgery until today, I've never been able to go up a set of stairs without pain. It hurts many times when I try to sleep, when I turn on my side, or when I wake up because I get these sharp pains.
"It's like a never-ending nightmare that I'm trying daily to find solutions and alternatives for, but I can't find them.
"It all started with that first surgery… every time I think about it, it stirs up so much bad emotion; it makes me really angry, very frustrated, but I can't change it.
"My daily life isn't what I would like it to be. I can't play football, I can't play Padel. It's terrible. They took me the chance to do what I loved the most, which was to play tennis.
"It's very tough. There are moments where I have no more strength. I'm not indestructible. I have good things, bad things, but most of the times I have to fake it and put a good face, but many times I feel terrible.
"Every day when I wake up I have to take six or seven pills. Gastric protectors, anti-inflammatories, one for anxiety. Then the pills made me gain weight so they told me to stop eating some things."
