Del Potro shifts his goals after wrist injury saga (Feature)

Jan 9, 2011, 11:07 GMT

Sydney - Argentine Juan Del Potro has scaled down his once- lofty goals in tennis, as the 2009 US Open winner and one-time number four makes a second return after missing the better part of a year due to a wrist injury.

The 22-year-old who was once tipped to rule the world along with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is now just another player, with the number 258 trying to prove the same as any other journeyman - that he has the game to rise into the elite.

'I have different goals for this year,' Del Potro said on Sunday, a day before his opening match at the Medibank International against polished Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who ended his last comeback attempt in October with a defeat in Tokyo and who has won the pair's last three meetings.

'Last year in Australia, my goal was to be number one before March,' said the 2-metre-tall Argentine, who last played consistently on the ATP a year ago, losing in the Australian Open fourth round to Marin Cilic and not resurfacing until October after a May wrist surgery.

'My goal now is to play well again, that's all, I just want to play,' he added.

Del Potro went back home three months ago after testing his wrist on the ATP and finding his form far from ideal. He was handily beaten in comeback attempts in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo before retreating for more fitness work.

The match with Lopez is huge for the former world-beater, who ended Roger Federer's five-year run of titles at the US Open two years ago - a gap equivalent to a tennis lifetime.

While the game has moved on, Del Potro still has no idea if he has.

'I don't know if I'll win or lose. I will do my 100 per cent on the court,' said the player, whose goal is to win another major.

'It's a long, long way to get them, I'm just trying to feel good again on the court.'

Del Potro has been hitting and tweeting positive thoughts in Spanish for a few days in Sydney prior to the event, where Sam Querrey of the US leads the modest field ahead of defending champion Marcos Baghdatis and Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

Del Potro admitted that it has not been easy to fight through his injury and constant rehab.

'I had some very bad moments last year. But I have family, my friends and my coaches behind me. It's important to be back here,' he noted.

He said he has now put his surgery out of mind eight months after the fact and is concentrating on the huge task of rebuilding a game that has possibly gone stale.

'I hope to play good tennis and to be injury-free,' he said.

Read more about Australia

Read more about Delpotro

Read more about Tennis ATP