Del Potro has been idle for several months as he recovers from a wrist injury.

Juan Martin Del Potro will not be at the 2010 US Open however he is expected to make his return to the tour shortly thereafter.  Del Potro competed at the 2010 Australian Open but was not on form as he lost in the fourth round to Marin Cilic.

For most of 2010 however, Del Potro has been sidelined with a wrist injury otherwise he would certainly be a top 5 player.

Del Potro won the 2009 US Open and he has immense talent and ability.  He cannot really be mentioned in the same sentence as either Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer at this point but Del Potro does have big time match-wins against both of those players as he defeated Fed in the 2009 US Open final and Nadal in the semis of that tournament.

By the time the Thailand Open comes around (ATP Bangkok) Del Potro's 2000 ranking points for his win at the 2009 US Open will have dropped off.  Furthermore, his 500 ranking points for winning Washington in 2009 will have dropped off as well.  To make matters even worse the 600 points he earned for making the Canadian final in 2009 will be gone too.

That will leave him with but 1070 ranking points remaining, most for making the finals at the ATP World Tour Finals from last year (800 ranking points).  With Del Potro not able to qualify for the World Tour finals this year due to his injury he won't be able to defend those points.

When the 2011 Australian Open comes around again, he might be ranked somewhere around 20th to 30th, depending on how he does in closing the year out.

The going rate on Del Potro for sportsbooks that are offering Australian Open odds is +500 (5/1; Stan James).  +1500 would be a good bet but 5 to 1 is way too short because Del Potro could be a mediocre seed at the Aussie and facing dangerous players as early as the 4th round.

Also, players that are coming back from injury are hardly guaranteed to be on top form.

Those betting the Melbourne Slam will find better value with Nadal at +250 (5/2; Victor Chandler), Andrew Murray at +500 (5/1; SkyBet), or Novak Djokovic at +1000 (10/1; Boylesports).

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