Del Potro motivated by Japan Open win to become world number one

Argentine tennis star Juan Martin del Potro has insisted that he has been motivated by his 16th career title win at the Japan Open to get ready for an assault on the top of the world rankings.

Del Potro beat Canada's Milos Raonic 7-6, 7-5 in the final to win the Japan Open title, a month after a shock second-round exit at the US Open, and victories in Rotterdam and Washington earlier this year.

According to Sport24, the fifth-ranked Del Potro said that he is motivated by his win to keep improving his game as he wants to become the number one player in the world, adding that he may now become a consistent threat at the four Grand Slams and join the world's elite.

The report mentioned that Del Potro's breakthrough at the 2009 US Open, where he beat Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals before toppling Roger Federer in the final, hit the rocks after he underwent wrist surgery the following year and missed eight months of the 2010 season.

However, Del Potro said that he is confident that if he is fit and playing well, he will have the chance to beat players like Nadal and Federer again in the future and be close to them in the rankings.

A respiratory virus forced Del Potro to pull out of this year's French Open before he returned with a vengeance in London but his performances in Tokyo, and consequent rise in the rankings, point to a stirring finish to the 2013 season, the report added.