“He would have reached World No. 1 even with Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic around”: Former US Open champion believes injuries robbed Del Potro of greatness

Former US Open champion Gabriela Sabatini stated that her compatriot Juan Martín Del Potro could have reached the ATP world No. 1 ranking, even though his entire career coincided with the dominance of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.

Sabatini, the 1990 US Open champion (defeating Steffi Graf in the final) and a Hall of Famer since 2006, spoke about the possibility of her Argentine compatriot Del Potro being inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, following his nomination last week.

Sabatini was the ambassador for the WTA 125 Mallorca Open last week, which concluded with a title win for Argentina's Solana Sierra after she defeated Serbia's Lola Radivojevic 6-3, 6-1, receiving the trophy from Sabatini herself. During her activities at the tournament, the former world No. 3 gave an interview to Página 12, in which she maintained that Del Potro's true potential was curtailed by injuries.

The winner of 27 WTA singles titles—including two WTA Tour Championships (now the WTA Finals)—reflected that if it hadn't been for the negative impact of injuries on his career, Del Potro would have reached the world number one spot, even despite the dominance of the Big Three. "I believe that if injuries had respected Juan Martín a little more, he would have reached the world number one, even though Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic were there."

A champion of the 2009 US Open and 2018 Indian Wells, in addition to being a fundamental part of Argentina's 2016 Davis Cup conquest, Del Potro reached world number three and could have even fought for the top of the rankings, according to Sabatini. The South American is one of three candidates in the Players category for the class of 2026, alongside two other legends: Switzerland's Roger Federer and Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Del Potro won a total of 22 titles in his career and reached 13 other finals, including losses at the 2018 US Open against Novak Djokovic and the 2016 Olympic Games against Andy Murray. His last trophy was at Indian Wells 2018 against Roger Federer. He achieved a total of 53 victories over top 10 players and 10 wins over No. 1 ranked players, and finished five seasons in the top 10 (2008, '09, '12, '13, '18).

Del Potro's career was marked by recurrent injuries. Wrist injuries and the fractured right kneecap he suffered in Shanghai in October 2018, when he was world number four, halted him at a moment when he was within reach of fighting for the year-end No. 1 spot against Djokovic. In the years that followed, the injuries forced him to undergo surgery up to eight times in search of a better quality of life.

"Sometimes I don't feel like it anymore. I'm not indestructible; I'm like any person who has good things and bad things, but many times I have to put on a brave face in certain situations," Del Potro once reflected.

A year ago, Del Potro officially bid farewell to the courts with an exhibition in Buenos Aires, attended by Novak Djokovic himself, who traveled to the South American country to accompany his old rival. That farewell match was also attended by Sabatini, who became a very good friend to Del Potro: "Last year, when I had to face surgery, he called me and said, 'Tomorrow I'm getting on a plane and I'll be with you until you recover.' Since then, we have been practically inseparable."