Juan Martin Del Potro got trapped in elevator before match against Novak Djokovic

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:15 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Chris Chase

As if things could get any worse for Juan Martin Del Potro, the dude chooses the wrong elevator in the Olympic Village.

The hard-luck tennis player, who stunned Roger Federer to win the 2009 U.S. Open and then battled injury ever since, has played only 10 events this year due to yet another injury, leaving him with a woeful ranking of No. 145. With that ranking comes no seeding which means Del Potro could theoretically face, say, Novak Djokovic in the first round of a tournament, a tournament that's say, the Olympics. (Both those things happened, in case that wasn't clear.)

So, a few hours before the most high-powered first-round match in Olympic history, Del Potro hopped in an elevator set to prepare for the dominant world No. 1 when -- the elevator stopped. And without Bruce Willis there to kick out the ceiling and bring him to safety, Delpo was stuck. No matter. This being the world of selfies and social media, the picture Del Potro snapped of his ordeal was quickly beamed out to the masses.

My Spanish is a little rusty but I think that says Del Potro took 40 minutes to fix a lightbulb in the biblioteca. But don't quote me.

Anyway, Delpo eventually got out, no worse for the wear - though at 6-foot-6, when the ever-surrounding walls felt like they were closing in and, with it, the belief you're in your metal coffin from which you'll never escape (wait, just me?), it couldn't have been fun.

Then again, when he plays Djokovic at 6:15 p.m. ET on Sunday, a Djokovic fresh off a stunning Wimbledon loss and with gold-medal aspirations, Delpo might be wishing he was back in that ascensor.

share