After yet another grueling eleven-month-long season, we finally have the final eight players who will represent the cream of the crop of the ATP Tour in Turin at this year’s ATP Finals.
Entering the Rolex Paris Masters, only four spots in Turin had been confirmed. However, we now have the complete list of qualifiers, with some players securing their places through clutch performances in Paris, while others narrowly missed out at one of the ATP Tour’s premier events.
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Alexander Zverev will head into Turin as the No. 1 seed for the first time in his career, having enjoyed a career-best season so far. Although the German currently has a below-average record of 3-9 against top-10 players, he has made the most of his opportunities, winning two Major titles and already securing the year-end No. 1 ranking.
A familiar face follows him in Carlos Alcaraz, who has now qualified for the prestigious end-of-year event for the fifth consecutive year. The Spaniard spent almost five months away from the tour this year due to a wrist injury, but despite that setback, he will finish the season ranked inside the top three. Alcaraz reached the final last year, and with his chief rival Jannik Sinner absent this time, he will hope to go one better.
American Ben Shelton became the next player to secure qualification for the ATP Finals. The American started the year inconsistently, but a career-best North American hard-court swing, during which he won the Canadian Masters and reached the US Open final, saw him climb the rankings and secure his place in Turin.
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After missing out last year, Daniil Medvedev also returns to Turin, making his seventh career appearance at the ATP Finals. The Russian has previously won the tournament, and on Turin’s fast indoor hard courts, he will be highly motivated to repeat that success and end a season of mixed fortunes on a high.
With Sinner’s absence, many wondered how the Italian fans hosting the event would react to their local favourite not being part of the tournament. Fortunately for them, another Italian will still represent the home crowd in Turin. Following a career-best year that saw him reach multiple Major quarterfinals, including the final of the French Open, Flavio Cobolli has qualified for the final eight.
While he had a season to forget at the Major level, winning just one match across those tournaments this year, Arthur Fils was undoubtedly one of the more consistent players on the tour in best-of-three matches. The Frenchman is now set to make his ATP Finals debut. He entered the year with significant questions about his physical condition after a prolonged injury absence. Still, he will end the season ranked at least No. 8 in the world and will look to carry that momentum into next year.
The Race for the Final Two Spots in Turin
The battle for the final two places in Turin went right down to the wire. Both Alex de Minaur and Novak Djokovic squandered their opportunities with early exits at the Rolex Paris Masters. Eventually, it came down to a four-player race heading into Friday, with Frances Tiafoe, Rafael Jodar, Taylor Fritz, and Tommy Paul all still in contention for a place in Turin.
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Paul’s three-set defeat to Shelton not only ended his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals but also secured Tiafoe’s place in the final eight. The American is now set to make his first-ever appearance at the prestigious season-ending event.
That left everything between Jodar and Fritz, with the qualification equation relatively simple. If Fritz defeated Alcaraz in the Paris Masters quarterfinals, he would claim the eighth spot in the race and qualify for the event once again. However, a defeat to Alcaraz would mean that, in his first-ever season on the ATP Tour, Jodar would make his ATP Finals debut.
In arguably the match of the year, Fritz suffered a heartbreaking defeat after holding match point, as Alcaraz staged another stunning comeback in Paris to end his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals and send his countryman Jodar to Turin.
The Last Word
With the players now confirmed for this year’s ATP Finals, the tournament promises to be one of the most open contests in recent years, particularly with the absence of two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner and the presence of several new faces. As always, two alternates will also be on hand: Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz.
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Despite several ATP 250 events taking place the following week, those tournaments will not count toward the race to the ATP Finals in Turin. This is due to a new rule introduced this year, which makes the Rolex Paris Masters the final tournament of the season to count towards ATP Finals qualification.
Main Photo Credit: Aaron Doster – Imagn Images
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
