The road to recovery for Juan Martin Del Potro has taken another positive route after he confirmed that he will play at the Miami Masters.
The former US Open champion returned to competition last month at the Delray Beach Open after being sidelined from action for almost a year after undergoing wrist surgery for the third time since 2010. The Argentine enjoyed a successful return to the tour by producing a trio of straight-sets wins over Denis Kudla, John-Patrick Smith and Jeremy Chardy to reach the semifinals of the Florida tournament. His run at Delray Beach was ended by eventual champion Sam Querrey.
This week Del Potro reached the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells before prevailing 7-6(4), 6-2, to Tomas Berdych. The former world No.4 displayed some of the outstanding form which took him to his maiden Grand Slam back in 2009 during the first set, before fading away in the second due to lack of fitness and match play. Following his loss to Berdych, he admitted that there is still a lot of work to be done.
“These guys are the best of the world,” del Potro said.
“I need to keep playing matches and tournaments. I can work hard at home physically, mentally, but I need matches to improve, you know. This is the only way.”
The 27-year-old has now confirmed that he will play in the upcoming Miami Masters. In a lengthly post uploaded on his Facebook account. Del Potro has admitted that he is finding it difficult to be playing at a level below his best, however, he has pledged to stay positive.
Hola a todos!! Les escribo un rato antes de ir a entrenarme otra vez lo cual es una buena señal. Gracias por los…
Posted by Juan Martín del Potro on Sunday, March 13, 2016
Del Potro currently has a 13-7 win-loss record at the Miami tournament. Apart from reaching the semifinals in 2009, he has also reached the fourth round on three other occasions (2007, 2011 and 2012).
