TENNIS in DEPTH.

Juan Martin del Potro feels he still has a lot of work to do if he is to break into the world’s top four.

The 21-year-old can reflect on a year in which he has really come of age, beating Roger Federer to win the US Open in September and then reaching the final of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2.

A win would have taken him above Andy Murray into fourth in the rankings but he was beaten 6-3 6-4 by an inspired Nikolay Davydenko and will start next season 425 points behind the Scot.

Murray would have been entitled to feel somewhat aggrieved at dropping a place, given Del Potro pipped him for a last-four spot in London by only one game, but the Argentinian could potentially start the Australian Open in January in fourth because the British number one is not planning to play any ranking events beforehand.

Del Potro, though, is in no hurry.

“I have to keep working,” he said. “I have many things to improve: my serve, my forehand. My goal is to feel better with this part of my game so I can be in a better position.

“But I have very good players fighting with me, like Murray, (Novak) Djokovic, Federer, (Rafael) Nadal. So I know the way I need to work.”

Del Potro claimed a second high-profile win over Federer to reach the last four at the O2 before edging Robin Soderling in a high-quality semi-final.

And although he came up just short in the end, he still reflected on a successful end to the season as the bigger names fell by the wayside.

“If I’m in the final, I want to win,” he continued. “But here, all the players are very good. Maybe names like Federer, Djokovic, Nadal or Murray, everybody thinks they will be in the final. But it didn’t happen. So I had a good tournament anyway.”

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