Part of the reason for Djokovic and Federer's major success is their ability to be basically injury free. Its not an ability, maybe its genetics, training, etc. Regardless Djokovic and Federer have enjoyed probably 12+ years on the tour, practically injury free.
Federer had his back issues and had to have knee surgery, but he has been able to easily comeback from both injuries , actually having phenomenal years post problems. 2014 and 2017.
Djokovic had a niggling elbow injury and maybe a shoulder for a while , but nothing that has taken him out again and again. Even in 2017 when he disappeared , he came and won AO 2018 and Wimbledon 2018 and has had barely any problems since.
Nadal has also had injuries , but they seem to have been rarely anything major that takes him out for one full year.
Let's get to the point. 2008 we saw the ascendancy of a young Argentinian, who had the fire, passion and power to cause some real damage on tour. The next year he beat Nadal and Federer in succession. Del Potro had no fear against two of the all time greats and instead of folding like a cheap tent and getting nervous and being "Happy" for Federer or Nadal winning, he beat them both.
He got as far as making the WTF finals against a peaking Playstationdenko.
2010 roll along and he gets injured, the wrist. He comes back in 2011 and loses to a Marcos Baghdatis, dropping him down to number 458. Not to soon after he is playing Nadal in an Indian Wells Semi Final. He does well enough and keeps on winning and losing to good opponents , with the highlight of losing to Nadal at Davis Cup.
Goes from number 458 - 11
2012 and 2013 he gave his all , and played brutal matches against big 3 and played in a GOAT match with Djokovic Wimbledon 2013. Moved back into top 10 and shortly back into top 5. But in 2013 you could tell it was taxing on him physically and mentally. He would flex the wrist and stretch with some grimaces on his face, but he never retired.
2014-2015 - Two years gone. That's it. Misses two crucial years where the tour was not at its best. He came back for about one or two tournaments in 2015 and quickly bowed out.
2016 he comes back ... with a forehand and slice backhand and has to play the most motivated Murray in the Olympics only barely losing after his body gives up.
2017 he is doing better but still is not smacking a two handed backhand. Still manages to have a fantastic US Open , beating Thiem and Federer , before bowing out to peaking Nadal
2018 looked to be the year. He won Indian Wells , hitting two handed backhands, barely lost to Nadal in Wimbledon and only lost to a peaking Djokovic in the US Open finals. Fractures his KNEE.
Now we have no tennis and Del Potro missed basically another year in 2019. Had injuries and finally gave out again.
The guys has missed 4-5 years of play in total in comparison to a decent 8 years of playing.... The only problem is that every injury he has had , hasn't allowed him to just spring right back, after sitting on the couch and look like a floating butterfly , while dancing around AO courts.... He has needed a jump start year to settle himself back in and when he is at the top .. something always happens.
4 surgeries on the wrists and a messed up knee.
What do you all think about Del Potro's slam count, masters , count , etc. if he had minimal to no injuries? To be fair during his ascendancy , he has had to play peak versions of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic , so maybe it might not look that different, but we have seen that his peak is good enough to beat anyone.
I leave it to you MTF.
Federer had his back issues and had to have knee surgery, but he has been able to easily comeback from both injuries , actually having phenomenal years post problems. 2014 and 2017.
Djokovic had a niggling elbow injury and maybe a shoulder for a while , but nothing that has taken him out again and again. Even in 2017 when he disappeared , he came and won AO 2018 and Wimbledon 2018 and has had barely any problems since.
Nadal has also had injuries , but they seem to have been rarely anything major that takes him out for one full year.
Let's get to the point. 2008 we saw the ascendancy of a young Argentinian, who had the fire, passion and power to cause some real damage on tour. The next year he beat Nadal and Federer in succession. Del Potro had no fear against two of the all time greats and instead of folding like a cheap tent and getting nervous and being "Happy" for Federer or Nadal winning, he beat them both.
He got as far as making the WTF finals against a peaking Playstationdenko.
2010 roll along and he gets injured, the wrist. He comes back in 2011 and loses to a Marcos Baghdatis, dropping him down to number 458. Not to soon after he is playing Nadal in an Indian Wells Semi Final. He does well enough and keeps on winning and losing to good opponents , with the highlight of losing to Nadal at Davis Cup.
Goes from number 458 - 11
2012 and 2013 he gave his all , and played brutal matches against big 3 and played in a GOAT match with Djokovic Wimbledon 2013. Moved back into top 10 and shortly back into top 5. But in 2013 you could tell it was taxing on him physically and mentally. He would flex the wrist and stretch with some grimaces on his face, but he never retired.
2014-2015 - Two years gone. That's it. Misses two crucial years where the tour was not at its best. He came back for about one or two tournaments in 2015 and quickly bowed out.
2016 he comes back ... with a forehand and slice backhand and has to play the most motivated Murray in the Olympics only barely losing after his body gives up.
2017 he is doing better but still is not smacking a two handed backhand. Still manages to have a fantastic US Open , beating Thiem and Federer , before bowing out to peaking Nadal
2018 looked to be the year. He won Indian Wells , hitting two handed backhands, barely lost to Nadal in Wimbledon and only lost to a peaking Djokovic in the US Open finals. Fractures his KNEE.
Now we have no tennis and Del Potro missed basically another year in 2019. Had injuries and finally gave out again.
The guys has missed 4-5 years of play in total in comparison to a decent 8 years of playing.... The only problem is that every injury he has had , hasn't allowed him to just spring right back, after sitting on the couch and look like a floating butterfly , while dancing around AO courts.... He has needed a jump start year to settle himself back in and when he is at the top .. something always happens.
4 surgeries on the wrists and a messed up knee.
What do you all think about Del Potro's slam count, masters , count , etc. if he had minimal to no injuries? To be fair during his ascendancy , he has had to play peak versions of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic , so maybe it might not look that different, but we have seen that his peak is good enough to beat anyone.
I leave it to you MTF.