By Alberto Amalfi | Wednesday, January 7, 2015

 

Juan Martin del Potro practices in Buenos Aires in preparation for his comeback.

Photo Credit: Juan Martin del Potro Facebook

 Juan Martin del Potro  will make his long-awaited return to the ATP Tour in Sydney next week in preparation for the Australian Open.

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Del Potro, who has been sidelined by a left wrist injury, has not played a Tour-level match since February 25th, 2014, when he was forced to retire against Somdev Devvarman in Dubai after dropping the first set.

The defending Sydney champion said his wrist pain "comes and goes" and cautioned he "doesn't expect great results" ahead of his first tournament in nearly 11 months.

"I missed the tour, I missed to compete. Those feelings outweigh the pain in the wrist, which comes and goes and prevented me from having the ideal pre-season training," del Potro said in a Facebook post. "I don’t expect great results. At this point I don’t care about the rankings. I take it as a reward for the effort that I put to return."

Currently ranked No. 135, del Potro has been training in Buenos Aires in preparation for his comeback. The wrist injury limited the 26-year-old Argentine to just 10 matches last season.