Juan Martin del Potro.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON -- U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro will play at next year's Queen's Club tournament in an effort to improve his grasscourt game for Wimbledon.

The fifth-ranked Argentine beat Roger Federer in the U.S. Open final but has never got past the second round in three appearances at Wimbledon.

Del Potro says "this is the perfect opportunity for me to improve my game on the surface. Many players have done well at Queen's in the past and then gone on to win at Wimbledon. I hope that this can happen for me also."

John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal have all won the Wimbledon men's singles title after victory at Queen's.

The Wimbledon warmup event is scheduled for June 7-13.