2010 PTT Thailand Open: Juan Martin
Del Potro makes comeback but fails to impress
The World No. 34, Juan Martin Del Potro, on Tuesday made his comeback at the 2010 PTT Thailand Open while competing for a first round match against Olivier Rochus of Belgium. But, it appears that the 22-year-old may still be out of practice as his performance
proved unsatisfactory and he surrendered the match to Rochus with straight sets and a score of 7-6, 6-4.
This was Del Potro’s first match since the 2010 Australian Open in January, prior to which he had suffered a wrist injury at the Kooyong Classic Exhibition Tournament that forced him to drop out of multiple tournaments. His drops out tournaments were mostly
high end events such as the Masters at Indian Wells and Miami. He was also forced to withdraw from Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Paris Masters, Barcelona, the Rome Masters and U.S. Open.
Juan Martin also suffered a severe downfall in his ranking on the ATP Tour, falling from World No. 4 to World No. 34. The injury seems to have destroyed the 2010 season for him and he was forced to go under the knife to recover in May. However, the Argentine
had begun training for the PTT Thailand Open while announcing his comeback on 22nd September 2010 in an update on Twitter that stated, “I am extremely happy to tell you: I WILL PLAY AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! I will be in the BANGKOK tournament next Monday.
Thanks so much for everything!”
But, the former U.S. Open champion fell to Rochus in the first round despite putting up a strong fight that included saving two break points. He broke his opponent’s serve in the second set but also gave up his own serve twice. Besides that, he also scattered
his performance with multiple unforced errors. Del Potro looked slow, unprepared and somewhat sluggish during this match while the World No. 79 Rochus remained calm and collected throughout.
Still, Juan Martin Del Potro’s main objective for this tournament as well as the Japan Open is to get back in form and become used to being on the court once again. His coach, Franco Davin, stated that he wants his protégé to “get some action” before participating
in the Shanghai Masters, which would start on 10th October 2010. So, Juan Martin may well make a more successful return to the court in the next two tournaments.
Meanwhile, Rainer Schuettler of Germany also upset Ricardo Mello from Brazil in straight sets. Finn Jarkko Nieminen produced similar results in his match against home favorite, Danai Udomchoke, beating the local by 6-3, 6-2. Moreover, four players have been
awarded byes into the second round of the Bangkok event. These include the World No. 1, Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco, Ernests Gulbis and Jurgen Melzer.