Following the Australian Open loss, del Potro missed several tournaments, including the Masters tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami, which were touted as potential return dates, due to the persistent wrist injury. Even though he withdrew from the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, he regained the world No. 4 ranking, due to Murray's early exit in the second round. He then withdrew from Barcelona and the Rome Masters. On 4 May, del Potro took the option of having an operation to fix the injury. On 19 May, del Potro said he would not defend his US Open title, but if all went well, he would appear after the event, targeting the Paris Masters as a possible comeback. However, on 22 July, the USTA stated that del Potro was expected to defend his US Open crown. The player himself confirmed that his comeback to the tour would be the Thailand Open and said nothing about the New York event. On 2 August, del Potro returned to the practice courts. A week before the start of the US Open, after practicing for two weeks, del Potro withdrew from the event, as he felt he was not ready to compete at the highest level.