Can Anyone Catch Felix For Final Turin Spot?
Can Anyone Catch Felix For Final Turin Spot?
Felix Auger-Aliassime moved into a qualifying position in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin by winning the UniCredit Firenze Open. Now the Canadian has an opportunity to consolidate his standing as he pursues a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals.
The 22-year-old is the second seed at this week’s European Open in Antwerp, where he extend his lead over his closest challengers. Auger-Aliassime (3,065 points) leads eighth-placed Taylor Fritz (2,885) by 180 points and ninth-placed Hubert Hurkacz (2,725), the top seed in Antwerp, by 340 points in the Live Race.
“The plan right now is to play every week, to play in Antwerp, Basel and Paris because there are still tournaments to play and the Race is very close,” Auger-Aliassime said after his victory in Florence. “There [are] players like Taylor [Fritz] and Andrey [Rublev], and many others are competing hard right now to try and qualify, so I’m going to try to put myself in the best position possible to try and make it to Turin.”
View Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin
Eight players qualify for the season finale, which will be played from 13-20 November at the Pala Alpitour. Tenth-placed Novak Djokovic (2,720) has claimed his spot in Turin under the Grand Slam champion provision, making seventh place key. The Grand Slam champion provision awards a Nitto ATP Finals entry to a current-year major winner who finishes between eighth and 20th in the Live Race.
Eighth-placed Fritz, who held seventh place after winning the ATP 500 event in Tokyo, is not in action this week. Hurkacz, who made his Nitto ATP Finals debut last year, can draw closer to Auger-Aliassime with 250 points awarded to the winner in Antwerp.
Sixth-placed Andrey Rublev (3,440) is also positioned well as he tries to earn his third consecutive Nitto ATP Finals qualification. The 24-year-old is not playing this week, but he 375 points ahead of Auger-Aliassime. Fifth-placed Daniil Medvedev (3,555) is trying to earn his place at the year-end championships for the fourth straight year.
Players who can move into contention this week include 12th-placed Cameron Norrie (Stockholm), 13th-placed Pablo Carreno Busta (Naples) and 15th-placed Matteo Berrettini (Naples).