Injury-plagued Juan Martin del Potro is set to miss the rest of the season after it was revealed on Sunday the giant Argentine had fractured his knee at the Shanghai Masters.
"It's a very difficult moment. I feel very sad," said the 30-year-old world number four who is walking with his leg in a splint after doctors confirmed he had fractured the patella bone in his right knee.
"I made a weird movement with the knee and hit the floor very hard. I felt intense pain," Del Potro told the ATP, adding that he had attempted to keep playing at first but stopped when his knee kept giving him problems. "I didn’t want any more risks," he added.
"It's a hard blow which leaves me without any strength. It's very difficult for me to think about recovery again. I did not expect this to happen."
Del Potro, the US Open runner-up to Novak Djokovic this year, hobbled out of the Shanghai Masters last 16 against Borna Coric on Thursday after hurting his right knee in an awkward fall after losing his footing.
He had been set to complete his year at the elite eight-man ATP World Tour Finals in London from November 11 after qualifying for the season-ending showpiece for the first time since 2013.
"It's very difficult for me to think about recovery again, I did not expect this to happen," he said.
Del Potro recently reached the final of the US Open, his best showing since returning from several wrist surgeries, and was scheduled to play Basel and Paris, followed by his first showing at the ATP Tour Finals in London since 2013.
An announcement from his representatives said that Del Potro experienced a "fracture of his right patella bone" and that "in the coming days, the doctors will evaluate the recovery process needed to return."
