Juan Martin del Potro will be in action at the US Open for the first time since 2013, following his long layoff with a wrist injury.
The Argentine, who is a former champion in New York, will be looking for another good run after some encouraging form since his return to the tour this February.
Notable results to date
Understandably, there has been a mix of results for del Potro since his return earlier this year; the most notable was the Olympic Games just two weeks ago.
The Argentine beat both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on his way to the final, before losing in the gold medal match to Andy Murray in a tight four-set match; this run proved that del Potro was nearing his best.
There have been many other good runs for the former world number four since his return. In his opening tournament of the season, in Delray Beach, he reached the semifinals, whilst he also reached the semifinal of the Mercedes Cup on grass. Furthermore, the Argentine has picked up some big wins this year; as well as beating Djokovic and Nadal, he beat in in-form Dominic Thiem in Madrid, and Stan Wawrinka in the second round at Wimbledon.
There have been some disappointing moments, however. del Potro was forced to withdraw from the French Open to protect his wrist, whilst has often lost tight matches, despite playing well, after big wins; he lost his next match after beating Thiem and Wawrinka.
Results heading into the US Open
The only hard court tournament del Potro played heading into Flushing Meadows was the previously mentioned Olympic tennis tournament, where he had to play some gritty tennis to make the gold medal match.
In a highly-anticipated opener, del Potro was just too good for Djokovic as he stunned the world number one in two tiebreak sets. He then had two more extremely tough matches, but eventually battled past both Joao Sousa and Taro Daniel in three sets.
The Argentine then edged past Roberto Bautista Agut in two tight sets, before battling past Nadal in a thrilling three-set semifinal. He went on to lose the gold medal match to Murray, but del Potro showed that he was not only capable of playing some good tennis but is also capable of grinding out some tough victories.
Best US Open result
Del Potro’s first, and only, Grand Slam title came at this tournament back in 2009.
Seeded sixth, the Argentine didn’t concede a set in his opening two matches, easing past Juan Monaco and Jurgen Melzer. He then had to work slightly harder for a four-set victory over Daniel Kollerer in the third round, though other straight sets victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero in the fourth round saw him safely into the quarterfinal.
Coming from a set down, del Potro then beat Marin Cilic in four sets to reach his second Grand Slam semifinal of the year. He then arguably put in his best performance of the tournament in the semifinals, cruising past Rafael Nadal for the loss of just six games to make his first Grand Slam final.
In the final he faced Roger Federer, and, after a tight five-set battle, it was del Potro who took his first Grand Slam title; whilst it is very unlikely he’ll add to that title this year, he will be looking for a confidence-boosting run.
How del Potro’s game translates to the surface
Del Potro has the aggressive game to succeed on hard courts. He is able to gain a lot of speed on his big serve, whilst his topspin groundstrokes (especially his forehand, which is considered one of the best in the game) are effectively able to dictate play, and get him many cheap points.