Returning Del Potro enjoys Sydney cruise

Juan Martin del Potro has made a successful return from an 11-month layoff with an impressive straight-sets first-round win at the Sydney International.

The former world No.4 showed few signs of rust from his lengthy layoff following wrist surgery as he opened his title defence with a routine 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory over Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky.

Wildcard Del Potro, who beat Australia’s 2013 champion Bernard Tomic in last year’s final, next faces Italian top seed Fabio Fognini for a spot in the last eight.

After breaking Stakhovsky in the third game of the match, del Potro barely dropped a point on serve before pocketing the first set in 31 minutes.

The big Argentine was again untroubled on serve in the second set, but was unable to claim a second break and needed a tiebreaker to clinch victory after one hour and 21 minutes.

Tomic will open his campaign on Tuesday afternoon against Dutchman Igor Sijsling, with fellow Australian Sam Groth up against Luxembourg’s veteran left-hander Gilles Muller.

After withdrawing from the Hopman Cup with a back complaint, Nick Kyrgios plays big-serving Pole Jerzy Janowicz in the feature night match.

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