Juan Martin del Potro has qualified for the ATP final of the season’s top eight pros for the first time in five years with his quarter-final appearance at the 500cc Beijing tournament. The event will take place from 11 to 18 November at the o2-Arena in London.
After 1:39 hours, top seeded del Potro at the China Open converted his second match point to 6:4, 7:6 (7:4) against Karen Khachanov (Russia). Already at 6:5 the world number four from Argentina had served to victory, but Khachanov (ATP-No. 24) saved himself with his only break in the Night Session at least once again in the tiebreak.
But there “Delpo” (11 aces) lived up to his role as favourite and will now face the young Serbian Filip Krajinovic in the round of the last eight.
The second round success was overshadowed by del Potro’s qualification for the ATP final in mid-November. The US Open finalist is the fourth player after Rafael Nadal (Spain), Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Novak Djokovic (Serbia) to secure an early ticket to London.
For del Potro it is the fifth participation in the unofficial ATP-WM. In 2009, he had been in the final of the season’s always splendidly raised final event (defeat against Nikolay Davydenko) – 2012 in the semi-finals (defeat against Novak Djokovic).
In the current year, the re-strengthened “Tower of Tandil”, who after four wrist operations was already thinking of a career end, has won the tournaments in Indian Wells and Acapulco so far.
In the final of the US Open, del Potro, the popular 1.98m giant, had been defeated by the Serbian Novak Djokovic 3:6, 6:7, 3:6 in September. In 2009 the Argentinian had won the title in Flushing Meadows.