Argentine Juan Del Potro fired seven aces as he ended
11 months of tennis injury exile with a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) defeat of
Sergiy Stakhovsky at the Sydney international on Tuesday.
Del Potro, who underwent left wrist surgery last spring and has been
recovering ever since, showed he still has the drive and desire as he
fights to return to the number four ranking he once held.
The South American advanced into the second round on a grey day in 81
minutes, never facing a break point against his Ukrainian opponent.
The wild card winner moved into a second-round match with Italian top
seed Fabio Fognini, only player from the top 20 in the ATP draw at
the dual-sex event.
Del Potro was understandably pleased to be back in action after
playing his last match in February when he had to quit in Dubai.
"It's time to get back on the train again, this tournament is very
special to me," said the defending champion.
Del Potro currently stands 338 on the ATP as he tests himself for
next week's return to the grand slams at the Australian Open.
2013 winner Bernard Tomic booked his second-round spot with a defeat
of Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling 6-1 6-2 which took a mere 43
minutes.
The women's draw lost its top seed when Simona Halep had to pulled
out due to illness.
The world number three Romanian arrived in Australia with a Shenzhen
title in hand but found herself unable to play due to stomach illness
picked up in China.
She had been due to face Czech Karolina Pliskova, who laser crushed
Nicole Gibbs of the US love-love.
On court, Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro upset Russian sixth seed
Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 while Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova
advanced when American Madison Keys retired 4-6, 4-1.
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