Del Potro recounts his injury ordeal: "It's a never-ending nightmare".

Juan Martin Del Potro opens up. The former Argentine tennis player, who played professionally between 2005 and 2022, posted a poignant eleven-minute video on his social networks.

The 36-year-old former world No. 3 recounts the suffering he experiences on a daily basis after a string of serious injuries in his career, most notably to his knee.

"Nobody knows this, but the day after my last match against Federico Delbonis (in Buenos Aires in 2022), I flew to Switzerland and had my knee operated on for the fifth time.

Since then, I've never publicly announced the operations I've had.

When I said that the match against Federico was probably my last, people stopped constantly asking me when I was going to return to the circuit", he began.

"I stayed in Switzerland for two months to rehabilitate, but it didn't work. After two and a half months, I had my sixth operation.

I went back to the States, had over a hundred injections everywhere, infiltrations... I suffer every day. It's been my life since that match against Delbonis.

Some doctors told me I could wear a prosthesis to regain a certain quality of life. But others told me I was too young for that.

They tell me I have to wait until I'm 50. Since I'm 31, I can't run, climb stairs or kick a ball.

I've never played tennis again. It often hurts when I sleep. It's a never-ending nightmare. I hope it will all stop one day, because I want to live my life without any pain whatsoever," he recalled in his testimonial.

Former winner of the US Open in 2009, Juan Martin Del Potro has won 22 titles in his career.

Winner of the 2018 Indian Wells Masters 1000 and two-time Olympic singles medallist, the Argentine will play Novak Djokovic in Buenos Aires in a few days' time as part of his farewell.

A last chance to enjoy the thrill of being on a tennis court at professional level.