Juan Martin del Potro has decided to skip the French Open to focus on progressing his comeback during the grass-court season.
The former U.S. Open champion returned to action in February following more than two years blighted by wrist problems but has been taking his return to the game slowly.
He was in tears after beating one of the form men of 2016, Dominic Thiem, at the Madrid Open last week before pulling out of this week's Italian Open. But despite previously announcing saying he was fine for Roland Garros, he took to Twitter on Thursday to reveal he will not be playing in the season's clay slam.
He wrote: "I am very happy to tell you the news: thanks to the improvements shown in recent weeks, for the first time in my rehab process I can confirm I will play several tournaments in a row.
"We decided that the smartest move is to start my preparation for the grass season. The list of tournaments is yet to be confirmed but I hope to play as much as possible and, if the captain considers I should be part of the playing team, to finish the trip in Italy for the Davis Cup tie.
"Sorry for my fans at Roland Garros, I am going to miss you one more year. I'll see you in 2017."
A message for you. 😀 pic.twitter.com/2QI8bleIvU
— Juan M. del Potro (@delpotrojuan) May 12, 2016
The Argentinian, who had entered the year's second grand slam using his protected ranking of eight, last played the French Open in 2012, when he lost in the quarterfinals to Roger Federer.
The Press Association contributed to this report.