Del Potro re-fractures kneecap, will miss Wimbledon

The injury curse has struck Juan Martin del Potro again, with the Argentine requiring more surgery after re-fracturing his kneecap during this week’s Queen’s Club Championships.

The Argentine, a US Open champion in 2009, slipped during his victory over Denis Shapovalov on Wednesday and later pulled out of the grass-court tournament.

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His hopes of playing at Wimbledon were dashed on Thursday after scans revealed he had fractured his right patella — the same injury that forced him to miss the last four weeks of 2018 and restricted him to five tournaments this year.

He initially sustained that injury after a fall at the Shanghai Masters in October 2018.

Del Potro’s agent Jorge Viale confirmed the 30-year-old world No.12 had consulted with his doctor Angel Cotorro and that surgery was required within the next couple of days.

Resultados de los estudios de @delpotrojuan.

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— Jorge Viale (@jorgeviale) June 20, 2019

Since winning at Flushing Meadows almost a decade ago, Del Potro has been robbed of large chunks of his career, undergoing three left wrist surgeries and another to his right wrist.

He had shown signs of returning to his best form and had risen to fourth in the rankings in January.