February, Del Potro stated in a press conference that it is likely he will retire after the 2022 Argentina Open. He has cited ongoing knee pain due to an injury as a reason behind the potential retirement and that his return is 'maybe more of a farewell than a comeback'. Del Potro lost in the first round of the Argentina Open to Federico Delbonis, and again hinted at retirement in the post-match interview. He withdrew from the 2022 Rio Open on 11 February. Del Potro has not played any matches since; he dropped out of the singles rankings on 20 June, as well as the doubles rankings on 9 May. Playing style Del Potro is an offensive baseliner with a very powerful serve and a deep, flat, topspin groundstroke, where he pushes his opponents deeper with his heavy groundstroke and trying to blast past them with a winner. His forehand is one of his main strengths and possibly the most powerful in the game, capable of frequently generating speeds more than 160 km/h. It is widely considered among the top three best forehands on tour by fellow players and analysts, alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Although he possessed a very consistent and powerful double-handed backhand, injury and surgeries on his wrist have rendered his backhand the main weakness in his game. Since his return in 2016, del Potro made tactical changes in his game in order to protect his wrist, like significantly reducing the pace of his two-hander and adopting a one-handed slice. Despite del Potro admitting that relying on slices is "not my game," the shot has been effective in moving his opponents out of position and slowing down rallies enough to allow him to set up powerful offensive shots with his forehand. Furthermore, to compensate for the newfound vulnerability in his backhand wing, del Potro has improved the power and accuracy of his other shots, most notably his serve. Equipment and apparel Del Potro used the Wilson Hyper ProStaff 6.1 Midplus Stretch early on in his career, and has continued to use this racquet under new paint jobs years later. Del Potro is very superstitious, and after suffering a wrist injury shortly after switching to the Wilson BLX Pro Tour paint job in 2010, he returned to playing with the then outdated Wilson K-Factor 6.1 95 paint job. He particularly favored the exact racquets he had used