Juan Martin del Potro beat Robin Haase 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday to move closer to a possible place in the season-wrapup ATP Finals as he reached the quarter-finals at the Paris Masters.
The Argentine, playing for a fifth consecutive week during which he won one title, reached a final and played a semi-final, won his 20th match since the start of the US Open more than two months ago.
The 29-year-old beat Dutchman Haase for the fourth time in a row and can now overtake provisional eighth-placed Pablo Carreno Busta in the season points race by reaching the semi-finals at Bercy.
The Argentine is trying to keep it all in perspective.
“I take extra motivation, it’s going to be a good battle in the next round trying to qualify for London,” Del Potro said.
“But if I don’t get to London, I have my home and vacations – both ways are great to me, but, of course, I would love to reach London once again (he last played in 2013).
“It is a really hard challenge.
“This could be fantastic moment for me. I didn’t expect to get this close to qualify for London. I didn’t expect to reach the top 10 position at this time.
“Everything is very amazing after all my (wrist) problems, all my injuries. And I’m excited to keep improving for this kind of surprise. I love to surprise myself, too, and that’s what I’m doing now.”
London-bound Dominic Thiem, the fifth seed, meanwhile went down 6-4, 6-4 to Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco, with the Austrian disappointed with his showing.
“I now have time to work on everything that is wrong in my game,” he said.
Source: GNA/dpa/NewsGhana.com.gh
