DELRAY BEACH–
Most players start their season down under on the hard courts in Australia. But in three out of the past four years, Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro has found himself beginning his year at the Delray Beach Open, a tournament where he feels at home. Thus, while missing the first Grand Slam of the year isn’t ideal, the 2009 US Open champion is undoubtedly used to it by now.
The Argentine has a large following around the world, but Delray Beach always seems to show plenty of love to del Potro. “I have great memories of Delray Beach and the fans, from winning the title in 2011 to starting my comeback here in 2016,” del Potro said. “This city will always be a special place for me.”
“This is a good tournament for playing tennis,” he continued. “I have great memories here; I love to do my comeback playing this event.”
The World #4 also spoke about choosing to play a tournament like Delray Beach to start his comeback, as opposed to beginning the year somewhere like Buenos Aires, which hosted a 250 event last week. “I love to play on hard courts; it’s the main reason. When I think about my career I put the surface as my priority, but also I’d like to play in my country, I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but it’s almost the same playing this tournament because I have a lot of Argentinian people coming to watch.”
Last year del Potro reached the round of 16 in Delray Beach, before falling to eventual winner Frances Tiafoe. It’s not fair to put any expectations on del Potro after such a long layoff, but the veteran knows that results might not come right away. “Expectations change after the injury, I have to prioritize my physical condition. I am very excited to maintain the level of last year and fight in the big tournaments.”
Keeping that kind of perspective, rather than focusing on maintaining his top four ranking during his comeback, might just be crucial at this stage in his career. He’s managed to come back from injury before, so it’ll be interesting to see where his game is a couple of weeks from now after playing Delray Beach, Indian Wells, where he is defending champion, and Miami.
The Argentine will open his tournament against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, who won his first tour-level title at the end of last year in Shenzhen after coming through qualifying. The talented Nishioka isn’t an ideal opponent for del Potro, who hasn’t had any match play since October 2018, but just seeing del Potro back on the court will be a step in the right direction.
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