Injured World Number 5 Juan Martin Del Potro to miss Australian Open

Writing on Twitter, the Argentine said: “Recovery is going great and I will tell you later where I will be making my comeback. Unfortunately it won’t happen in Australia.”

World number five Juan Martin del Potro said on Monday that he will miss the Australian Open starting in two weeks’ time as he hasn’t yet recovered from a fractured knee suffered in October.

File image of Juan Martin del Potro. (AFP)

Writing on Twitter, the Argentine said: “Recovery is going great and I will tell you later where I will be making my comeback. Unfortunately it won’t happen in Australia.”

The injury-plagued 30-year-old hobbled out of the Shanghai Masters two months ago after an awkward fall before doctors diagnosed him with a fractured patella bone in his right knee.

Since winning the US Open in 2009 as a 20-year-old, Del Potro has been plagued with physical problems, including a series of wrist injuries that required four surgeries.

But 2018 had seen something of a resurgence from a player who dropped to 581 in the world in 2015.

He beat Swiss great Roger Federer in the Indian Wells Masters final in March and in September he reached a second Grand Slam final, but was beaten in straight sets by current world number 1 Novak Djokovic at the US Open.

He even reached a career-high ranking of three in August.

While he said on Twitter he would “miss” the Australian Open, he added that he was “happy with my progress.”