Del Potro an outside contender for ATP Finals?

Juan Martin del Potro has risen seven places in the ATP Race to London to keep alive his slim hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals.

The Argentine’s semifinal finish in Shanghai helped him vault seven places to 18th in the Race.

But it’s effectively 15th when you consider Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic (No.7 and No.10 in the Race) and most likely Andy Murray (No.13) will not contest the season-ending event at The O2.

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Dominic Thiem at the weekend secured the fourth berth in London – joining Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev – with another four places up for grabs.

There are three more weeks of tournaments remaining for players to secure enough points to join them.

Del Potro is scheduled to defend his title at this week’s ATP 250 event in Stockholm, and has received a first-round bye as the fourth seed.

However, after sustaining a wrist injury following a fall in Shanghai, it’s unclear if he will play.

DelPotro in Stockholm this week.Bye, friendly draw, 700 pts behind 8th spot in London w/6 to jump over. Booked 4 Basel, Paris. Will he play? pic.twitter.com/YYc4a3pNmR

— Tennis.Life (@tennislifenews) October 14, 2017

He is also scheduled to play in Basel – an ATP 500 event – and the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris.

Marin Cilic and Grigor Dimitrov, at fifth and sixth in the Race, seem the most likely to qualify next; they’re both more than 700 points clear of eighth-placed David Goffin.

Pablo Carreno Busta – at No.9 – is currently in the eighth and final qualifying place, 720 points ahead of del Potro.

Del Potro says he decided to play mostly because "it's always a honor to play Federer". "Right now I feel a lot of pain", Stockholm unlikely

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) October 14, 2017