RICKY DIMON SAYS DEL POTRO’S COMEBACK IS THE STORY OF THE WEEK IN SYDNEY AND AUCKLAND

Written by: Staff on 11th January 2015

RICKY DIMON SAYS DEL POTRO'S COMEBACK IS THE STORY OF THE WEEK IN SYDNEY AND AUCKLAND

epa04554403 Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro answers a question during a media conference before the first round match, at the Apia International tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, 11 January 2015. EPA/PAUL MILLER AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Juan Martin Del Potro is back.

For the first time since playing doubles with Marin Cilic at last year’s Indian Wells Masters, Del Potro will take the court this week at the Apia International in Sydney. The oft-injured Argentine triumphed at this tournament in 2014 before ultimately being sidelined for the last eight months of 2015 due to wrist surgery.

“I missed the tour, I missed to compete,” Del Potro wrote on Facebook to confirm his participation in Sydney. “Those feelings outweigh the pain in the wrist, which comes and goes and prevented me from having the ideal pre-season training.”

He added later: “(The wrist) hurts a little bit. It bothers me sometimes when I hit backhands but I am trying to hit harder because I need to hit harder if I want to play this tournament. Sometimes the pain is high, sometimes it is low. It’s much better than three or four weeks ago and the doctor says that I can’t make it worse by playing at a high level, so I am very positive for that.”

Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina celebrates his win against Nicolas Mahut of France at the APIA Sydney International Tennis Tournament in Sydney, Australia, 08 January 2014. EPA/DEAN LEWINS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

The former world No. 4 is obviously unseeded and will likely be at the mercy of many draws this season. If ever there is a time to land near a No. 1 seed, this is it (especially compared to, say, at the Australian Open). If Del Potro survives his first-round test against Sergiy Stakhovsky, he would get Fabio Fognini.

In the bottom half of the bracket, 2014 runner-up Bernard Tomic could meet Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round and then potentially Sam Querrey. Coming off a semifinal showing in Chennai, an in-form David Goffin appears to have a favorable draw as the No. 2 seed.

The Heineken Open in Auckland, meanwhile, took a beating, with the late withdrawals of David Ferrer, Gael Monfils, and defending champion John Isner. That leaves No. 2 seed Ernests Gulbis as the highest-ranked player in the field.

There is really no such thing as a bad draw at this particular tournament, but the unseeded contingent in Gulbis’ bottom half is strong. Among the threats are Dominic Thiem, Joao Sousa, Donald Young, and Borna Coric. So don’t pencil in Gulbis and Kevin Anderson into the semifinals just yet. Anderson may have to open against Thiem before possibly facing either Sousa, Coric, or Steve Johnson.

Depth is lacking in the top section, so Roberto Bautista Agut and Tommy Robredo have a good chance of setting up an all-Spanish semifinal. Robredo finished runner-up in Auckland back in 2007 (lost to Ferrer).

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Apia International Sydney, Atp, Delpo, Juan Martin Del Potro, Ricky Dimon, Sydney, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

January 11, 2015 at 8:40 am

-@Dimonator SAYS @delpotrojuan’s #COMEBACK IS THE STORY OF THE WEEK IN #SYDNEY AND #AUCKLAND- http://t.co/Ao9WXCUv6l #tennis #SydneyTennis
Dimonator says:

January 11, 2015 at 8:49 am

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator SAYS @delpotrojuan’s #COMEBACK IS THE STORY OF THE WEEK IN #SYDNEY AND #AUCKLAND- http://t.co/Ao9WXCUv6l #ten…