Juan Martin del Potro has confirmed that he will play in the Australian Open later this month after spending a lengthy stint on the sidelines with a wrist problem.
The 26-year-old has been out of action since February last year after undergoing surgery, but he will get back to competition in next week's Apia International Sydney.
He wrote on his Facebook page: "Hello everyone!!! I wanted to tell you that we decided to travel to play Sydney and the Australian Open.
"I missed the tour, I missed to compete, I missed interacting with you on court and those feelings outweigh the pain in the wrist, which comes and goes and prevented me from having the ideal pre-season training.
"I don't expect great results, I just want to feel the competition, I want to feel an active player once again, nearly a year after my last match. At this point I don't care about the rankings. The situation is different. I take it as a reward for the effort that I put [in] to come back."
The first Grand Slam of the year begins on January 19.
Danielle Joynson
