Juan Martin del Potro will return to dirty work this spring.

The 2009 US Open champion announced he will launch his first clay-court season in three years. Del Potro has entered Munich and Madrid, he announced in a Facebook post today. It will be his first attempt to play back-to-back clay-court tournaments since he played Monte Carlo and Rome in 2013.

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It will be the Argentine's first Madrid appearance in four years. In 2012, Del Potro defeated Mikhail Youzhny, Marin Cilic and Alexandr Dolgopolov in succession to reach the Madrid semifinals where he lost to Tomas Berdych. Del Potro also reached the Madrid final four in 2009, falling to Roger Federer.



Seeing Juan Martin Del Potro, who has undergone four wrist surgeries, taking treatment for wrist pain during his loss to lucky loser Horacio Zeballos in Miami last month was a disturbing sight. But he says he's learning to manage the pain and expects some soreness in his wrist during touranment play.

"Of course I'm suffering in moments, but I'm playing tennis. Bad or really bad, but I'm playing. That's good for me," said Del Potro immediately after that loss.

Photo credit: Christopher Levy