Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who captured his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open on Monday, has become the fifth singles player to qualify for the prestigious Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, scheduled to take place at The O2 in London from 22-29 November.
The 20 year old will compete at the season climax for the second successive year, joining Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and defending champion Novak Djokovic at the elite eight-man event, the world’s biggest-ever indoor tournament.
Del Potro regained a place in the Top 5 of the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings on 14 September 2009, after beating Federer 3-6, 7-6(5) 4-6, 7-6(4) 6-2 in the US Open final on his fourth appearance in New York. He is the second Argentine, after 1977 winner Guillermo Vilas, to lift the US Open title and the fifth youngest man to lift the trophy in the Open Era.
"It's been a dream winning the US Open and beating Roger in the final and to qualify for London so early is amazing,” said del Potro, at 6’6” the tallest Grand Slam winner in history. “I played in Shanghai last year and it is such a special tournament. I look forward to playing at The O2 arena."
The Tandil native, who is the youngest player in the Top 20, has captured three tour-level titles this year including the Heineken Open in Auckland (d. Querrey) and the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington (d. Roddick). The Argentine also reached the Australian Open quarter-finals and Roland Garros semi-finals (l. to Federer both times).
Del Potro’s qualification leaves just three spots up for grabs between now and November, with the likes of Andy Roddick, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando Verdasco and Nikolay Davydenko all in contention to complete the eight-man line-up.
Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - The Contenders
| Rank | Player | Points | Rank | Team | Points | |
| 1. | R. Federer (SUI) | 11,240 | 1. | Bryan/Bryan | 9,010 | |
| 2. | R. Nadal (ESP) | 8,845 | 2. | Nestor/Zimonjic | 8,745 | |
| 3. | A. Murray (GBR) | 8,390 | 3. | Dlouhy/Paes | 5,740 | |
| 4. | N. Djokovic (SRB) | 7,480 | 4. | Bhupathi/Knowles | 5,590 | |
| 5. | J.M. del Potro (ARG) | 6,825 | 5. | Mirnyi/Ram | 3,550 | |
| 6. | A. Roddick (USA) | 5,310 | 6. | Moodie/Norman | 3,115 | |
| 7. | J-W. Tsonga (FRA) | 3,950 | 7. | Kubot/Marach | 3,050 | |
| 8. | N. Davydenko (RUS) | 3,535 | 8. | Cermak/Mertinak | 2,320 | |
| ................................ | .............................. | |||||
| 9. | F. Verdasco (ESP) | 3,430 | 9. | Soares/Ullyett | 2,220 | |
| 10. | G. Simon (FRA) | 3,090 | 10. | Damm/Lindstedt | 2,125 |
Players in bold have qualified.
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals will feature the world’s top eight singles players and eight doubles teams competing to be officially crowned 2009 ATP World Tour Champions. Each of the top eight players and doubles teams will be drawn to play three round-robin matches to determine which four players and teams advance to the knockout semi-finals.
With a capacity of 250,000, less than 20,000 tickets remain on sale to tennis fans across the group sessions at The O2, which will host the eight-day singles and doubles tournament. Tickets are available online through www.BarclaysATPWorldTourFinals.com or by calling 0844 847 2495 within the UK. Overseas customers should call +44 161 372 0025.(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/09/London-Finals-del-Potro-Qualifies.aspx)
