Juan Martin del Potro returns with a win at Delray beach open- essentiallysports.com

In a clash that involved two former Delray beach open champions, Juan Martin del Potro overcame a cautious and slow start to defeat Kevin Anderson in straight sets (6-4 6-4).

Del Potro has been recovering from yet another wrist injury that had him out for the latter part of 2016. So far he has undergone 3 surgeries on his left wrist and one surgery on his right wrist, not to mention a couple of other injuries that have denied him the opportunity to bag more titles. He was named the comeback player of the year last season after a wonderful return, that included a marathon match against Marin Cilic, coming from two sets to love down to defeat him.

In his post-match interview, he mentioned he wasn’t feeling a hundred percent on the court in his first match initially, and thus took a cautious approach, especially on his backhand. Later he gained rhythm on his serve and blasted winners off his forehand, although he remained to be cautious off the backhand wing throughout the match. He also says that for his first match in the 2017 campaign, it was a pretty good start for him to come off with a straight sets victory over a former champion and a formidable former top ten player. Kevin Anderson said in his post match conference that, he made him play a couple of more extra points on crucial moments in the match, which eventually ended up in breaks of serve and that pretty much decided the match. Milos Raonic also had his win in the Delray open and people have their fingers crossed for a meeting of the pair of Del Potro and Raonic.

Although Del Potro says he doesn’t have much expectation in his first tournament of the year, it yet again entices tennis fans for an exciting season ahead with the fast approaching clay court season and the return of players such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Juan Martin Del Potro. Del Potro’s career has been marred by injuries, and it would be a shame if the US open champion and Olympics medal winner doesn’t live up to his potential this season. And it wouldn’t be the first time that a player has faded away in time, due to an injury stricken career.