Juan Martin del Potro: ‘I never made it because there was either Federer, or Nadal, or Djokovic’

Juan Martin del Potro believes his ambition of becoming the world No. 1 was unattainable due to the domination of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Del Potro retired last year with one Grand Slam under his belt and a career-high ranking of No. 3 and remains one of the people who had the most success over the Big Three, boasting seven wins against Federer, six wins against Nadal, and four wins against Djokovic.

When he reached the No. 3 ranking in August 2018, the Argentinian was still trailing 1000 points behind second-placed Federer and over 5000 points behind first-placed Nadal.

‘’The only thing I lacked was being No. 1,’’ Del Potro told Tenis News Brasil at a Roland Garros Junior Series event in Sao Paulo.

‘’It was always a dream and I always worked for it… but I was proud of my career and I never made it because there was either Federer, or Nadal or Djokovic.

"When I look at the rankings and the years of my career and who was fighting to be No. 1, I see that it was beautiful that these were the ones who didn't let me make it, this dream.’’

Del Potro acknowledged that he was up against the three best male tennis players the world has ever seen and he speculated that, despite the promising talent of the new generation, that there will not be ‘anything similar’ any time soon.

‘’One day, the 'Big Three' will end and we have Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner or Holger Rune, other young people who will mark the circuit.

‘’But for me, [for] many years - the 'big three' - there will not be anything similar.’’