Del Potro decided to skip the 2017 Australian Open and made his season debut at the Delray Beach Open, where he was seeded in a tournament for the first time in three years, at No. 7, and won his first three matches against Kevin Anderson, Damir Dzumhur and Sam Querrey, who beat him in the semifinals of the same tournament last year. However, in the semifinals this year, del Potro lost to top seed and world No. 4 Milos Raonic in straight sets. Next, del Potro played in the Mexican Open, where he was drawn to play qualifier Frances Tiafoe, who idolised del Potro when he was a child. In the end, del Potro won an extremely tight match in three sets. In the next round, del Potro played the top seed of the tournament for the second time in a row. This time it was Novak Djokovic on the other side of the court. Del Potro lost in three sets after winning the first set.