Del Potro to play doubles at Madrid before deciding on singles

Juan Martin del Potro will start his comeback this week at Madrid, but what he doesn't know yet is whether it'll be in doubles or singles.

The former Grand Slam champion plans to play in the first round of doubles alongside Kei Nishikori before deciding whether to also compete in singles.

"To me, playing doubles is important—to move and to start to get a feeling for playing in an official match and not just practicing,'' he told press before the event. "If I feel as expected during the doubles, I'm sure I'll want to play the singles."

Whatever his decision, he indicated that he is almost fit again following a fractured kneecap during a fall in Shanghai.

"Coming to this tournament is one more step for me in my rehabilitation and my final recovery to feeling completely fit again and completely healing the knee injury," Del Potro said. "I think that I’m feeling better every day and I’m starting to train with the best players, which gives me my rhythm and gets me playing my best tennis. And although I need time to adapt to that rhythm, I think this is a good time for me to start to do that."

Having acknowledged that he rushed his initial return at Delray Beach this season, the 30-year-old has found it tough to be sidelined yet again in his career. He returned from his most recent wrist surgery to reach a career-high No. 3 in 2018 before experiencing the knee problem.

"I found some feelings that were similar to previous years, especially in the months with gray days," he said. "It was frustrating because I was getting far and playing big games, and it was more the disappointment of having to stop for an injury. But we didn’t think it was something that was going to take a long time. That didn’t happen. Everything got much longer. The injury started to get more serious than they thought. But being here is where I am at my best and my most positive."

The Argentine is No. 8 in the rankings.