Del Potro gaining steam with latest triumph

Juan Martin del Potro is now within 500 points of the eighth-placed Pablo Carreno Busta in the ATP Race to London after his triumph in Stockholm.

Del Potro defended his Stockholm title with a dismissive 6-4 6-2 win over top seed Grigor Dimitrov, his sixth win in eight career meetings with the Bulgarian.

The result pushed del Potro up to 14th in the race as he targets a berth at the ATP Finals.

But he’s effectively in 11th spot, with the higher-placed Stan Wawrinka, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray ruled out for the rest of the season.

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It’s just Carreno Busta, Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson who stand between del Potro and a place in the season-ending field.

“I’m still going up in the rankings,” he told atpworldtour.com.

“I’m already in the Top 20 and I don’t have too many points to defend next season. Could get close to the Top 10 guys. (It) could be a dream after all my problems with the wrist.

“To reach that ranking, that number (top 10) again, would be fantastic for me. But I’m very calm. I’d like to stay in good shape, keep healthy and keep playing tennis.”

The Argentine is in stellar form; prior to his victory in Stockholm he reached the semifinals at the Shanghai Masters and a few weeks before that the same stage of the US Open. He has won 14 of his past 17 matches.

Del Potro is scheduled to play at this week’s ATP 500 event in Basel, and next week’s Masters 1000 event in Paris.

Strong performances at both will do wonders for his chances of appearing in London for the first time since 2013.