With his second-round victory over Brian Baker in Basel, Juan Martin del Potro becomes the sixth active player to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Del Potro joins Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, and Tomas Berdych as qualifiers. Rafael Nadal has qualified, but pulled out of the event with a knee injury.
“For me it’s a gift for my effort during the year,” the Argentine said. “Being in that tournament means a lot. It’s only eight players fighting for one tournament. It’s the best eight players of the year, so it’s very important to me.”
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Janko Tipsarevic currently hold the last two places for the eight-man field. Nicolas Almagro, who is 385 points behind Tipsarevic for the final spot, has reached the Valencia quarterfinals this week, where he will play David Ferrer. Richard Gasquet, who is 440 points behind Tipsarevic, has reached the semifinals of Basel. Both men can pass Tipsarevic this week with title runs.
Marin Cilic, who is a long shot to make London, has also reached the Valencia quarterfinals.