Injured Del Potro pulls out of Australian Open

Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina speaks during a press conference to announce his retirement from the Australian Open due to wrist injury at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. AP

MELBOURNE, Australia – Grand Slam winner Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday pulled out of the Australian Open after a recurrence of his troublesome wrist injury.

The giant Argentine spent almost a year on the sidelines before making his return at the Sydney International last week.

“It’s been hurting the last couple of days and weeks,” said Del Potro, who memorably won the US Open in 2009 at the age of 20 when he defeated Roger Federer.

“Nothing new, nothing dangerous. But I think my wrist is not ready for play in this important tournament.”

The former world number four, whose ranking has sunk to 276 due to his inactivity, said he did not want to put the rest of his season at risk.

“I’m looking forward for the whole season. It’s tough to say this, but I’m still positive and I want to play tennis as I did last week. That’s why I decided to withdraw here.”