With the French Open just around the corner, players are doing all they can to prepare themselves fully for the second major of the year.
The recent battles between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have dominated the build-up, with the latter defeating the ‘King of Clay’twice on his favourite surface in the last month.
Roger Federer is then always a threat, while Andy Murray seems to be finding the form at just the right time. These four, as has been the case in recent years, are the front runners going into the tournament.
However, there is one man looking to recover from injury just at the right time and launch a French Open title challenge. That man is Juan Martin del Potro.
A former semi-finalist at Roland Garros, del Potro has confirmed on his Twitter account that he will be competing in France this month after working extremely hard on getting himself in shape.
The Argentine missed the majority of last season with a wrist injury and has suffered a stuttering start to 2011 having picked up a hip injury in Madrid a couple of weeks ago.
He will be hoping that the French Open can act as a platform for his continued climb up the world rankings, having slipped to 27th after missing the majority of the 2010 tennis calendar.
Tennis betting pundits note how there were signs of form when he won the Estoril Open at the beginning of the month, but the hip injury put his involvement at Roland Garros in doubt, so it is good news that he has recovered in time.
There is no doubt that he can have an impact on the tournament too. He is a very dangerous player that even the in-form Djokovic would be wary of facing too early.
The 22-year-old made the French Open semi-finals back in 2009, losing out to eventual Champions Federer in five sets. This proved that he can be a major force on clay and he will be looking to progress to the latter stages again this year.
His fitness may be questionable having just returned to training, but if he can avoid too many long matches in the first couple of rounds, he has a good chance of making the final four once again. Those placing tennis bets on the event certainly shouldn’t rule him out.
