Del Potro closes in on Tour spot

JUAN Martin del Potro is relishing the battle to qualify for the World Tour Finals after beating Robin Haase 7-5, 6-4 in the Paris Masters last 16 yesterday.

The former US Open champion can take the eighth and final qualification spot for London from Pablo Carreno Busta if he reaches the semifinals at Bercy, and he will face either John Isner or sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the last eight.

“It’s going to be a good battle next round trying to qualify for London,” Del Potro said.

“But anyway, I think I have two routes to take – one is London, one is my home and a vacation.”

The 13th-seeded Argentine had little trouble in seeing off Dutchman Haase, who had notched his first win over a top-five player against Alexander Zverev on Wednesday.

Del Potro, who was 47th in the “Race to London” standings before the US Open, is now one win away from reaching his fifth semifinal in six events.

His incredible run included a victory over Roger Federer en route to the last four at Flushing Meadows and a second straight Stockholm Open title.

If Del Potro reaches the Paris semis, Frenchman Lucas Pouille would have to win the tournament to deny him a spot at the year-ending eight-man event for the first time since 2013.

The 29-year-old Del Potro has suffered from a long list of injuries since he broke through with US Open glory eight years ago and was ranked 590th at the end of 2015, but he now stands on the brink of a return to the world’s top 10.

Veteran Spaniard Fernando Verdasco knocked out Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem to reach his first Masters quarterfinal since 2012.

The 33-year-old left-hander progressed to a last-eight clash with either American Jack Sock or Pouille, who were due to play later yesterday.

Spanish great Rafael Nadal takes on Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, having already secured the year-end world No 1 ranking.