BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro has had a second operation on his troublesome left wrist in a bid to make a lasting comeback, his training staff said.
Del Potro's attempted comeback at the Sydney tournament earlier this month, where he was the title holder, ended at the quarter-final stage and he withdrew from the Australian Open.
"Juan Martin Del Potro has undergone surgery on his left wrist in the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to resolve the problem of the pain caused when he hit his two-handed backhand," the Argentine's press spokesman Jorge Viale said in a statement.
Tuesday's corrective surgery was the third operation carried out by surgeon Richard Berger on Del Potro's wrists, the first having been on his right wrist in 2010 following his 2009 U.S. Open victory.
The 26-year-old Argentine missed most of the 2014 season after a first operation on his left wrist last February but his comeback this year was beset by pain when he played his backhand.
Viale said Del Potro, who published a photo on his Facebook page of himself in his hospital bed with Berger standing beside him, would begin his rehabilitation in two weeks but gave no time for yet another comeback.