Former US Open champ del Potro undergoes knee surgery

Argentine tennis star Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, has said he has undergone a successful operation in Miami to repair damage to the right kneecap that he fractured while playing a tune-up event for Wimbledon last year.

"Time to go home to rest. Once again, thank you for the love and support," the 31-year-old Del Potro, a two-time Olympic medalist and former world No. 3, said in a Twitter post on Monday. del Potro posted a photo on the social media site showing him on crutches accompanied by messages in Spanish and English, reports Efe news.

"We hope that this is the definitive solution to eliminate the pain that not only has prevented DelPo from playing tennis, but also making it difficult for him to perform daily activities," the tennis star's representatives said in a statement released over the weekend.

Last June, del Potro fractured his right patella for the second time in less than a year while competing at the Queen's Club Championships in London, one of the top tune-up events for Wimbledon.

He underwent knee surgery on June 22 in Spain and has not taken the court again.

The Argentine star began experiencing pain in his right knee in mid-2018 and missed several tournaments, recovering from the injury without surgery.

In October 2018, del Potro, who is currently ranked No. 121 in the world, broke his patella at the Shanghai Masters and the injury forced him to miss the final four weeks of the tennis season.

He flew to the US on Sunday night so that he could be operated on by Lee Kaplan, an orthopedic surgeon who serves as the director of the UHealth Sports Performance and Wellness Institute at the University of Miami.

In addition to missing several tournaments last year, del Potro also had to scrap plans to play an exhibition match against Swiss superstar Roger Federer on Nov. 20 in Buenos Aires.

del Potro, who has won 22 ATP Tour-level singles titles, has been plagued by injuries during his career, especially wrist injuries. The Argentine tennis star had three operations on his left wrist between 2014 and 2015, and one on his right wrist in 2010.