ATP Finals 2024: Top five players who can still qualify

Defending champion and seven-time winner Novak Djokovic is doubtful.

The grand finale of the 2024 tennis season approaches as only three weeks remain before the ATP Finals 2024 get underway. The Inalpi Arena in Turin will witness the top eight singles players in the ATP rankings descend at the venue from November 10, with the week-long event set to wrap on November 17.

The lucky eight who qualify are the best-performing men on the tour in the 2023 season. Performances at the Grand Slams, ATP 1000 events and other top-level competitions count towards the points that will give the eight access to the prestigious event.

Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev have claimed four of the eight spots.

Sinner was a finalist last season, while Alcaraz made the semifinals in his 2023 debut. Both players fell to eventual champion Novak Djokovic. Zverev, who won the title in 2021, is scheduled to make his seventh trip to Turin for the ATP Finals 2024. 

The 28-year-old Medvedev has qualified for the season finale for the sixth consecutive time. Medvedev won the year-end championships in 2020, following up with an appearance in the 2021 final.

Also Read: Daniil Medvedev secures fourth spot in singles ATP Finals 2024

Seven-time ATP Finals titlist and defending champion Novak Djokovic looks unlikely to qualify after pulling out of the upcoming Paris Masters, which has complicated the Serb’s chances of making the final eight while opening the door for others.   

It is a mad scramble for the singles players fighting to remain in contention as the window of opportunity to play at Turin is nearly closed. Five players are currently competing for the final four spots in the year-ending ATP Finals.

Also Read: Is Novak Djokovic’s season over or will he play at ATP Finals 2024?

Fritz, though sitting out on the tennis action, is well placed at fifth in the ATP Live Race to Turin. The American was aided by winning the trophy in two of his four appearances in the title rounds this season.

Casper Ruud’s hopes of booking a ticket to Turin suffered a setback when he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in the opening match at Basel Open. In the same event, Rublev went past Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets.

A sixth – Tommy Paul remains in the running after winning the Nordic Open in Sweden for the second time.  Paul remains in 11th place in the Race to Turin after losing in the opening round to Brandon Nakashima.

Tommy Paul and Casper Rudd will now have to shift focus to making deep runs at the Paris Masters 2024 in hopes of making it to Turin.

Players who can still qualify for ATP Finals 2024

Taylor Fritz

Fifth-ranked Taylor Fritz is next in line to qualify for the ATP Finals, as he sits just 530 points behind Medvedev. The 2024 season for Fritz got underway with a successful defence of the Delray Beach Open in February with a straight-set win over Tommy Paul.

After joining Jason Stoltenberg (1996, 1997) to become the second man in the tournament history to win the Delray Beach title twice in a row, Fritz secured the Rothesay International in Eastbourne for a third time. In doing so, the top-ranked American is the first player in the ATP Tour to win three titles at the venue.

He won in 2019 and 2022 as well. The third title in Eastbourne came at the expense of Max Purcell in another straight-set win.

Fritz also reached the BMW Open Finals in Munich in February and his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open in August. The precious ATP points accumulated from making the finals in New York, plus titles at Eastbourne and Delray Beach, will count as the fight to qualify intensifies.

Casper Ruud

Casper Ruud was kept from strengthening his Turn bid by Roberto Bautista Agut. The Spaniard, who won the European Open in Antwerp last week, dented Ruud’s chances of making the ATP Finals in the first round. Agut survived the three-set tussle with the Norwegian in the critical week, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to win a sixth straight match.

Ruud, the 2022 Turin finalist, has hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals alive with title runs in Barcelona and Geneva to 750 invaluable points. Reaching the finals at the 2024 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo, along with Acapulco and Los Cabos, has improved his prospects of making the cut.

Ruud, the World No. #8, will look forward to the Paris Masters that begins on October 28. A 445-point gap separates him and Taylor Fritz in the Race to Turin.

Also Read: Top Five Players with most appearances in ATP Finals

Andrey Rublev

World No. #7 Andrey Rublev saw off Chilean southpaw Alejandro Tabilo to reach his 13th quarter-final of the season. The straight set 7-6(3), 6-1 victory in 73 minutes boosts Rublev’s chances of qualifying for his fifth straight ATP Finals.

With wins at the Hong Kong Open and the biggest win of his career at the 2024 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid in the bag, Rublev finds himself 315 points ahead of Alex de Minaur in the final qualifying position.

Reaching the ATP Masters 1000 Canada title round this season has contributed 650 points towards his aim of qualifying for Turin, along with the 1000 points he pocketed for winning the Madrid Masters.

Rublev is through to the quarterfinals at Basel, where he awaits either local favourite Stan Wawrinka or Ben Shelton for a chance to earn another 100 ATP points.

Alex de Minaur

Australian Alex de Minaur is just outside the top eight who will qualify for the year-ending ATP Finals. The World No. #10 had to dig deep to overcome Jan-Lennard Struff for his second-round spot at the Erste Bank Open. The second seed clawed back from one set down to earn a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win at the ATP 500 event in Vienna.

The 25-year-old Sydneysider has 3405 points in the Live Race to Turin. A title run in Vienna will help Alex de Minaur get closer to a qualifying spot at the ATP Finals.

The Aussie, a winner at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Acapulco, trails 8-2 against Zverev in their head-to-head. He made a third final in 2024 at Rotterdam before losing to Jannik Sinner.

Grigor Dimitrov

Like Alex de Minaur, a title run in Vienna Open will come in handy for Grigor Dimitrov as he looks to qualify for the second time at the ATP Finals. The Bulgarian won the 2017 ATP Finals with a perfect 5-0 run, including the round-robin matches.

Complimenting Dimitrov’s title defence at Brisbane are title-round appearances at Marseille, Miami, and Stockholm as the Bulgarian inches closer to making the trip to Turin. Reaching the ATP 1000 Miami finals added 650 points to his tally aside from the 250 points for lifting the Brisbane International trophy.  

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