TENNIS – Juan Martin Del Potro has sadly withdrawn from the Australian Open which starts on Monday 19th January in Melbourne Park due to problems on his wrist which was operated last year. The Argentine star, who played last week in Sydney where he reached the quarter final, explained at a media conference that his wrist was not ready to face the Australian Open. Diego Sampaolo
AO 2015: Interviews, Results, Order of Play, Draws
Del Potro, who played just four tournaments last year after he injured his left wrist, said that he did not want to take any risks. Palito underwent surgery on his wrist and was sidelined for 10 months before returning to the court in Sydney. He has now dropped to World Number 338 in the ATP Ranking
“I didn’t feel prepared for playing in this big event. My first Grand Slam after one year. Five-set matches would be very tough. It could be very dangerous. I think it was a tough but smart decision if I want to be healthy and play for the whole year. It’s been hurting the last couple of days and weeks. The wrist is not ready for this important tournament. It’s tough to say this but I am still positive and I want to play tennis as I did last week. That’s why I decided to withdraw from the Australian Open”, said Del Potro.
The Tower of Tandil, who won his first Grand Slam at the US Open in 2009, won two matches in the ATP 250 in Sydney against Sergiy Stakhovsky and Fabio Fognini before losing to eventual runner-up Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6 7-6 in the quarter finals. In Sydney Del Potro showed encouraging form after being sidelined for such a long time. He was beaten by Kukushkin after a tough match with no break points. After the match against the Kazakh player Del Potro admitted that he felt pain on his wrist. “I served well but my wrist hurts a little bit more than yesterday and I could not hit harder than my last match. I think it’s a great week for me. I played three matches in a row and I played against good players, which means a good comeback for me”.
Del Potro said that his backhand caused him pain. “I could not hit backhands like I want. It’s not helping a lot for my game. I don’t want to change my style and my technique.I don’t want to put at risk my body and I want to play healthy. I saw last week that I could be a competitive player again. I am very excited for that”
