Gilles Simon: 'With Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic around, del Potro..'

Writing on the ATP player blog, Gilles Simon focused on the 'big 4' and how tough it was to win anything with them around in the last 15 years. Since 2004, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have won all but six Major titles, dominating at the Masters 1000 series and the ATP ranking as well to take everything away from their opponents. Juan Martin del Potro is among those affected by the 'big 4' dominance, possessing natural talent and skills for big goals and still winning "only" one Major and one Masters 1000 crown so far in a career. Simon believes the Argentine would have won at least five or six Majors in some other era, praising his colleague and reminding he had to save three match points to grab at least that lone Masters 1000 crown in this strong era.

At the end of January, the former world no. 3 and the US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro had to undergo another right knee surgery in Miami, postponing return before a coronavirus halted the entire tennis season.

The Argentine fractured the right kneecap against Borna Coric in Shanghai 2018, returning in Delray Beach next February and playing only five tournaments and 12 matches before experiencing the same injury versus Denis Shapovalov at Queen's in June. Juan Martin underwent surgery in Barcelona a couple of days later, hoping to start training again and begin some light preparations on and off the court at the end of summer. Things haven't worked his way so far, feeling a constant pain in his knee and having to skip the Australian Open for the fifth time in the last six years before that latest surgery. After dropping out from the top-1000 in February 2016, the Argentine embraced a stellar journey towards the top, linking a couple of good years and lifting the first Masters 1000 trophy in Indian Wells 2018, becoming world no. 3 in August before experiencing two identical knee injuries that have halted his progress once again.

"We had Juan Martin del Potro, who won one Grand Slam. I'm sure that in another generation and without injuries, del Potro could have won four, five or six Slams. With Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray around, he earned one Major crown and one Masters 1000 trophy. What's impressive is he needed to save three championship points in the 2019 Indian Wells final to achieve that. Do you realize how good that guy is?"

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/37XuIm4