Juan Martin Del Potro might be on the mend from a troublesome wrist injury, but his appearance at this year’s French open remains uncertain.
Hampered by a series of wrist issues, the former US Open champion played his first clay court tournament in almost three years at the Munich Open, where he reached the quarterfinals. After Munich, Del Potro stunned top-20 player Dominic Thiem in the first round of this week’s Madrid Masters before losing his next match to Jack Sock.
The results might be encouraging for the beloved Argentine, however, his recovery from injury is still ongoing. Next week he will skip the Rome Masters to continue the rehabilitation on his left wrist. Rumors circulated that he pulled out of the Italian event due to ‘wrist discomfort’, however, his team have denied this.
The rest of the clay season remains unknown for Del Potro. As he spoke to Argentine media about his reason not to play Rome, he has also hinted that he may not play in the French Open, which starts at the end of this month.
“I never said I was going to play that tournament.” Del Potro said when asked about missing the Rome Masters.
“ I said that I just was going to Munich and Madrid. Due to regulations, you must to subscribed to a tournament 6 weeks before the competition. I was assigned, but that tournament wasn’t in my calendar. I am also assigned to Roland Garros, but I’m going to wait and see if I play it or not.”
The comments come as Del Potro looks ahead to the grass-court season. Although he would like to play at Roland Garros, the 27-year-old is getting himself ready for what is expected to be a long season for him on the grass. Del Potro hasn’t played a match on the surface since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships.
The Olympic Games in Rio is another event that Del Potro has his eyes on. He has confirmed that he will try to enter the event using his protected ranking.
“It’s a big hope. I have the experience of London 2012,” the 27-year-old said about playing at the Rio Olympics.
“When you have a protected ranking, you can use it in 9 tournaments. Due to this I’m choosing the tournaments to use them and I am going to see if I can get one for Rio.”
At the 2012 games, Del Potro clinched the bronze medal after defeating Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
