Juan Martín del Potro ruled out for four weeks

Juan Martin del Potro (Photo: Keith Allison)

Juan Martín del Potro will be out of action for at least four weeks as he tries to recover from a wrist injury that has troubled him in recent months.

The US Open champion joins Rafael Nadal on the sidelines following a recurrence of tendinitis in his wrist that forced him to retire from the Melbourne Kooyong Classic event in the build-up to the Australian Open.

The 21-year-old reached the fourth round of the year’s first Grand Slam before succumbing to semi-finalist Marin Cilic.

Del Potro is now expected to miss Argentina’s Davis Cup tie with Sweden next month as well as the Open 13 tournament in Marseille next week.

Rafael Nadal is currently also out of action after being forced to retire during his quarter-final clash with Andy Murray at the Australian Open when his knee problem resurfaced.

Nadal, 23, has been resting his right knee since his match in Melbourne, but is expected to resume light training early next week.

However Toni Nadal, the world number two’s coach and uncle, remains cautious over setting a date for his comeback.

“It will depend on how his injury situation evolves and what the doctors think,” said the senior Nadal. “But everything is going as planned.”