Juan Martin del Potro withdraws from the Australian Open

As some journalists from Argentina report, Juan Martin del Potro will skip the first Major of the season in Melbourne for the fifth time in the last six years as he still can't compete at 100%. Juan Martin is the third notable name that will miss the action at Melbourne Park after Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori, needing more time to recover and hoping to make a return in February. One of the fiercest competitors over the last decade when his game is on, del Potro had to deal with numerous injuries throughout his career, unable to fulfill his full potential and fight for more Major and Masters 1000 crowns after that US Open 2009 when he was still 20!

The worst thing is, the Argentine had managed to come back at his best in the last couple of years, becoming world no. 3 in August 2018 before experiencing more setbacks and playing just 12 matches in the season behind us to lose the place in the top-100 once again. Ranked outside the top-1000 in February 2016, Juan Martin worked hard on the return in the following months, winning the silver medal at Rio Olympics and reaching the quarter-final at the US Open before lifting the title in Stockholm, his first in almost two years! Juan Martin led Argentina towards the long-awaited Davis Cup crown in the closing stages of the season and that gave him the momentum ahead of 2017, performing on a high level in a final couple of events to find himself in the top-20 again.

2018 saw even better results, as del Potro claimed back-to-back titles in Acapulco and Indian Wells (his first Masters 1000 crown), followed by the semi-final in Miami to establish himself in the top-10. The Argentine lost to Rafael Nadal in the latter stages at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, advancing into the final at the US Open and Beijing and closing the year after a knee injury in Shanghai. Eager to stay on the right course, Juan Martin made a slow return at Delray Beach last February, playing 12 matches before another terrible luck at Queen's where he suffered a right patella injury for the second time in eight months, undergoing surgery on June 22. In August, Juan Martin started to work in the gym and shared some videos from the court recently, working on a comeback but still not being able to compete in challenging best-of-five encounters in Melbourne. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2SNf7Qr