Del Potro is a former winner (©GettyImages). Juan Martin del Potro, winner of the US Open in 2009, could be in line for a shock return to this year's tournament after posting pictures of his recovery on Facebook.
The Argentinian hitter has been out of action for most of 2014 and was forced to go under career-saving surgery shortly after the Australian Open on his troublesome wrist, a problem that has plagued him for many years now.
Rehabilitation
The 25-year-old has kept fans updated throughout the rehabilitation progress, and his most recent post on Facebook came with a video (see it below) of Del Potro hitting some double-handed backhands.
Del Potro has over one million followers on the social network, to whom he said: 'I have great news to share! Four months after the surgery I hit my first few backhands and my doctor Richard Berger was there. I'm looking forward to playing pain-free again as soon as possible. Thanks for your support!'
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US Open glory
Flushing Meadows would hold great significance to the tall and powerful man, it remains the only place where he has won a major. His thrilling five-set triumph in 2009 over Roger Federer was supposed to herald an era of dominance for the Tandil-born star.
Since that time though, Del Potro has suffered to reach those heights, despite bagging 18 singles titles in his relatively short career. A Wimbledon semi-final last year was as close as the world no.8 has come to adding to his Grand Slam tally.
Troublesome wrist
Part of that relative failure could be attributed to the issues with his wrist, he first felt the problem in 2010 and spent nine months on the sidelines. It came back in 2012 but del Potro played-on through pain-killing injections.
If the former champion does make a shock return, he'll certainly face a stern challenge - one that would be difficult even for a player with tip-top preparation.
Tough challenge
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, as usual, will jostle for the world no.1 spot and further Grand Slam joy to add to their already-burgeoning collection, both have had success on the hard courts. Roger Federer - tennis' most successful man - is a five-time winner in New York, but hasn't won since 2008. Andy Murray is also a former champion.
Furthermore, the up-and-coming players like Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov and Nick Kyrgios will hope to consolidate recent good form at Wimbledon.
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