By Chris Oddo | Monday, January 12, 2015

The long wait is finally over.

Juan Martin Del Potro got his first win since February of 2014 on Tuesday in Sydney, easing past Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-3, 7-6(4) in one hour and 21 minutes.

More: Del Potro Talks 2015 in Pre-Sydney Presser

“It was a great moment for me,” Del Potro said. “I think I played well to be in my first match after ten months. I served well. My forehand is still working out. So that’s mean good signal for the future.”

Del Potro didn’t face a break point and only dropped four of 41 first-serve points against Stahkovsky.

Though he looked to be in mid-season form for much of the match, Del Potro acknowledged that there’s still a lot of work to be done, particularly on the backhand side.

“I’m working on my backhand every day. I just start to hitting backhands here in Sydney like three days ago. I think I’m improving. It’s take time to feel the ball again on my wrist, to play hard, to make winners,” he said. Del Potro will face Italy’s Fabio Fognini in the second round.