Wimbledon 2016: The return of Juan Martin Del Potro - but is it another false dawn?

When Juan Martin Del Potro announced his withdrawal from the French Open last month, he accompanied his announcement with the happiest withdrawal statement the world has ever seen. In all, the twitter-posted statement included two exclamation marks, one smiley-faced emoji and a whole lot of positivity for someone who was communicating the fact that he would be missing the French Open for the fourth consecutive year.

That’s Juan Martin Del Potro in a nutshell. The Argentine hasn’t played for an extended amount of time since 2013, cutting short both his 2014 and 2015 seasons after his chronic left wrist injury required a total of three surgeries. But despite these major false starts, he has constantly showcased his ability to radiate positivity even when the reality of his situations have been dramatically more dire than communicated. It’s what can only be expected from the friendliest giant in the whole of sport, but the consequence is that it’s difficult for onlookers to know when there is anything to actually be positive about.

After falling in straight sets to Canada’s Vasek Pospisil at the 2015 Miami Open in March, for example, the 2009 US Open champion shrugged in response to worried questions about the sorry state of his puffball backhands.

“I'm not 100% confident to hit my best backhands yet. But I am working hard,” he said at the time. “I am working hard every day little more on my backhand. I think it's the only way to get to pass through all of the things and get well for the future.”

Not only would these turn out to be the final words after Del Potro’s final match of 2015, as he was quickly forced to shut down his 2015 season and undergo a devastating third surgery on his left wrist tendon, but they were words that were echoed 15 months later after today’s seamless first round 6-1 7-5 6-0 victory over Stephane Robert.

“I feel my forehands and serves are working well at the moment,” he said. “But I need to play a few good matches to feel 100%. I'm do not have full confidence on my backhands yet.”

Del Potro and his sickly sweet nature simply cannot be trusted, and his progress as he continues yet another comeback should be judged on his actions rather than words. But for the first time in years his actions actually appear to warrant encouragement.

In his Roland Garros withdrawal statement, the Argentine committed to a busy series of tournaments for the first time since 2013.

In Stuttgart he reached the semi-final of the 250 event, playing a patient and intelligent quarter-final match to capture only his third top 20 win since 2013 against Gilles Simon. And in London at Queen’s, he was ousted in the first round as he bemoaned the boredom of watching the John Isner serve constantly fly past him on grass. Far from any wrist problems, the only injury worry in this match was the possibility of his eyes falling out as they rolled time and time again with every Isner ace.

The confidence boost from simply being able to travel from tournament to tournament rather than starting and stopping has been palpable. The Argentine wasn’t lying when he said he was feeling his serve and forehand against French journeyman Robert as he heaped destruction on the ball with his favoured two strokes. He finished his first top 100 slam win since 2013 with a stratospheric 91% first serve points, strolling through in 91 efficient minutes.

Del Potro still has to make many compromises with his dastardly wrist. He still chooses to frequently employ his slice in order to “protect” his backhand, and his increasingly used driven two-handed backhands are nowadays hit with an utterly peculiar technique. While a loose and coiling left wrist action is paramount to providing topspin, control and power to just about every serious right-handed backhand on the planet, the Argentine has been left with no choice but to completely change his backhand stroke.

These days, he squeezes his racquet grip tight and ensures his left wrist is rigid and unmoving when his racquet meets the ball. Regardless of how surprisingly decent his slice is these days and his happiness to hit more and more backhands with force, this is not ideal.

Will conditions ever be ideal for Del Potro and his wrists again? It’s an outcome he deserves so much, yet it’s not one that is ever likely to happen. It’s clear that, at least to some extent, this is still his intention. He constantly speaks of his adjusted expectations and he is clearly ecstatic to simply compete and hit backhands without spending entire matches worried about his wrist. When he defeated young star Dominic Thiem in Madrid, the first tournament to host his improved confidence, he wept in his chair simply because he didn’t expect to win.

But Del Potro didn’t win the US Open at 20 years old from two sets to one down without being an incredibly ambitious player, and even as he speaks with humility, it’s clear that his eyes are always flickering to the ultimate prize and he constantly claims to anticipate eventually returning to a high level.

“This year will be more like a comeback on tour, to feel the pressure of tennis,” he said this time. “I hope to be ready for being aggressive player on next season.”

Wherever this new journey is taking him, Del Potro’s second round match against Stan Wawrinka will be another step towards the destination. The Argentine hasn’t faced such a big opponent at a slam since his classic semi-final against Djokovic on the same court in 2013. And in his first time back on centre stage at Wimbledon, very few people won’t be rooting for him to score a result that would allow him to more appropriately use as many exclamation marks and silly smiley face emojis as he pleases.