Why Juan Martin del Potro is missed on the ATP tour
Recurring wrist injury
A wrist pain injury is the main reason for Juan Martin del Potro to miss the ATP tour for the remaining part of this year 2014. He confirmed that he would return to the ATP World Tour in 2015 after practicing well and undergoing rehabilitation and intensive pre-season sessions to be fully prepared. The 26-year-old Argentine announced that he would delay his comeback due to a left wrist injury after a thorough analysis with his coaches and medical team.
The former World No. 4 won the Sydney title to begin his 2014 campaign on a bright note, and played in three more tournaments – compiling a 7-3 match record for the season – before undergoing wrist surgery to repair the damaged ligaments in March this year at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
Played with pain
Del Potro's spokesperson had confirmed that he received the treatment, and played without pain during his title run at the Sydney International, but the pain aggravated in Melbourne, where he lost in the second round to Roberto Bautista Agut. After deciding to rest for a while, he flew to Minnesota to consult with Dr. Richard Berger, who operated on his right wrist four years ago.
In the 2014 Dubai Tennis Championships, he retired against Somdev Devvarman due to a wrist injury after losing the first set. The same injury led to his withdrawal from Masters 1000 series events in Indian Wells and Miami. His world ranking dropped to number 8.
Another wrist surgery
On 23 March 2014, Del Potro announced in a press conference that he would undergo wrist surgery to repair the problem in his left wrist. This led him to miss the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, resulting in a further drop down the rankings to number 13 in the world. Del Potro started training again at the end of May 2014, however his left wrist was still in pain.
Forced to skip Asian tournaments
On 11 September, Del Potro announced that he would miss the entire Asian season because he needs more time to get back to the competitive level. Nearly a month after this announcement, he told via facebook in October that he would miss the rest of the 2014 season because he wasn't feeling fully fit owing to the injury.
Del Potro expressed that the recovery from his wrist surgery was slow and would not let him be in a competitive level to face the best players in the world in the last two tournaments of this year and he would prefer to be patient and prepare for next year.
His facebook message to his fans read “Your constant support, good wishes and caring have been and will continue to be of the utmost importance along this journey, I am deeply thankful and I believe that during next year I’ll be able to repay you, doing what I do best.”
Del Potro also had a surgery on his right wrist in 2010. He made a successful return after this injury, winning Comeback Player of the Year award in the 2011 ATP World Tour Awards. We could expect him to make his comeback soon and get into his habit of winning.