The Argentine needs to reach the semi-finals in Paris to book a ticket for the November 12-19 ATP Finals - live on Sky Sports
Thursday 2 November 2017 21:47, UK
Juan Martin del Potro is one win away from qualifying for the ATP Finals after reaching the Paris Masters quarter-finals with a 7-5 6-4 win against Robin Haase on Thursday.
The Argentine, playing in Bercy for the first time since 2013, converted all his break points against the Dutchman, who eliminated fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the previous round, to set up a crunch meeting with John Isner.
Del Potro needs to beat the American on Friday to overtake Pablo Carreno Busta, who occupies the eighth and final qualification spot, to punch his ticket for the tournament in London later this month.
I didn't expect to get this close to qualifying for London
"It's going to be a good battle next round trying to qualify for London," said Del Potro. "But anyways, I think I have two ways to take, one is London, one is my home and vacation.
"Both ways are great to me, but of course, I would love to reach London once again."
Del Potro, who was 47th in the Race to London standings before the US Open, recorded his 20th win 24 matches and is now just one win away from reaching his fifth semi-final in six events.
"It could be a fantastic moment for me," he added. "I didn't expect to get this close to qualifying for London.
"And everything is very amazing after all my problems, all my injuries... I love to surprise myself, and that's what I'm doing now."
Del Potro's win ensured that Serbia's Novak Djokovic will drop out of the world's top 10 for the first time in more than a decade next week.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion has not played since Wimbledon in July after ending his season early due to an elbow injury and will rank lower than 10th for the first time since March 2007.
Isner battled hard to overcome London-bound Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (12-10) 5-7 7-6 (7-3) to reach the last eight.
In the day's other matches, Fernando Verdasco continued his excellent run in the French capital by knocking out Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem with a 6-4 6-4 victory to reach his first Masters quarter-final since 2012.
The 33-year-old left-hander had never previously been past the third round in Paris, but he progressed to a last-eight clash with Jack Sock.
World No 83 Julien Benneteau delighted the home crowd by knocking out seventh seed David Goffin 6-3 6-3.
The Belgian, who required one win to qualify for the ATP Finals, sealed the penultimate Tour Finals spot after Sock defeated Lucas Pouille 7-6 (8-6) 6-3.
American Sock has his own ambitions of making it to London, but must win the tournament and hope other results go his way in order to reach the season-ending tournament.
Spanish great Rafael Nadal defeated Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-3, having already secured the year-end world No 1 ranking.
The season-ending extravaganza ATP Finals at London's O2 this November ends another memorable year.
All the action will be covered via our website sky.mnosports.com/tennis with live blogs, reports and expert analysis as the season reaches its climax.
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