Juan Martin Del Potro might be forgiven for thinking he is the forgotten man of the US Tennis Open.
While the towering Argentine was hailed as the next big thing in men's tennis after he won the title two years ago, beating Roger Federer in a classic five-set final, he has been an almost anonymous figure this time.
While Federer, Rafa Nadal and Andy Roddick, the only other players in the men's draw to have won the men's titles, have played all their matches in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Del Potro has not played on the centre court for two years.
He was unable to defend his title last year because of an injury that kept him out of the game for almost nine months but his first two matches have been played on smaller courts during the day this year.
But the 18th seed, who is struggling to rediscover his best, says he has no complaints about being overlooked for the feature night matches and said the organizers were right to save the red carpet treatment for the bigger names.
Del Potro will certainly get his chance on the big stage if he continues in the tournament and the early signs are encouraging.
He has been steadily improving and was starting to rebuild his confidence after easily winning his second-round clash against fellow Argentine Diego Junqueira, 6-2 6-1 7-5.
