Del Potro withdraws from exhibition match with Roger Federer
Juan Martin del Potro announced he will not be able to face Roger Federer next week in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Argentinean player is slowly recovering from a knee injury and, through a video, he said: "Despite training hard all those days, in the last training sessions I felt the knee was not ready for a high-level match against the best player ever," said del Potro. "I am not healthy enough to move freely, I struggle running. For the respect toward the people who organized this event, the best thing is to withdraw and leave my place to Zverev, who will definitely have a great match with Federer. It was a frustrating year in general and it was rare that it would end in another way. But yes, it ends this way. Enjoy seeing the best ever in Argentina."
Angel Ruiz Cotorro said: "Del Potro is following a rehabilitation process in a progressive way and with a good Evolution. Over the last week, because of his exhibition match, he increased rhythm, which bothered his knee. So he needs to follow the same process as he did until now and not make too much of an effort in order to start the 2020 season in a correct way."
Alexander Zverev will play Federer in the match, taking del Potro's place. The German has faced several criticisms for not playing the Davis Cup but prioritizing exhibition matches in South America. Zverev had reiterated on several occasions that would not be donning team colors for Germany because of how the format was altered to make way for modernizing.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Kv3AQG
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