Citing progress with his surgically repair left wrist, Juan Martin del Potro committed to play in the Australian Open and a prep tournament in Sidney.
Just how good will he be? That's the question only action will address.
Once among the rising stars in tennis, del Potro missed a year in slow recovery from tendon surgery. He won the Sidney tournament last year but had to stop playing in February.
Play begins Sunday in the Apia International Sydney. Eight days later, the Aussie Open begins.
Del Potro admitted on Facebook he has no idea what to expect in his return. "I just want to feel the competition, I want to feel an active player once again, nearly a year after my last match," he wrote. "At this point I don’t care about the rankings."
Del Potro, of Argentina, is not among the ATP's top 100 players. He is No. 135. In November 2011, he was fourth, and two years later finished No. 5.
What to expect? Del Potro admitted he continues to have wrist pain, "which comes and goes and prevented me from having the ideal preseason training," he wrote. He misses competition and said playing will be "a reward for the effort that I put to come back."
A right wrist injury prevented him from playing in 2010, following his title at the U.S. Open.