A host of #NextGenATP stars will this week battle for the final spots at the eight-player Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals as the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan concludes Sunday.

Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, Jack Draper, Brandon Nakashima and Jiri Lehecka have already qualified for the 21-and-under event. Who will join them at the Allianz Cloud in Milan? Chun-Hsin Tseng, Francesco Passaro and Dominic Stricker lead the hunt to claim the remaining places.

View Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan

Tseng of Chinese Taipei has 490 points, but is not in action this week. The 21-year-old has enjoyed a breakthrough season, clinching two ATP Challenger Tour titles and earning his first ATP Tour win in Los Cabos.

Italian Passaro will be looking to make his debut in Milan, where he could join his countryman Musetti. The 21-year-old has 473 points, 51 points clear of 10th-placed Dominic Stricker (422 points). The Swiss lefty is competing on home soil at the ATP 500 event in Basel, where he will face American Maxime Cressy in the first round.

Italians Matteo Arnaldi and Luca Nardi will be ready to pounce should Stricker fall early at the tour-level event. The 11th-placed Arnaldi (401 points) is the sixth seed at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Brest, while 12th-placed Nardi (385 points) will play in Ortisei. Arnaldi has won one ATP Challenger Tour crown this year, with Nardi triumphing at three events at that level.

Filip Misolic (376 points), Timofey Skatov (373 points) and Mattia Bellucci (362 points) are also still in contention. Bellucci has lifted Challenger trophies in each of the past two weeks.

The ball is in Felix Auger-Aliassime’s court in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

With back to back titles, the 22-year-old has positioned himself well to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. The job is far from done, however, and a pivotal week featuring ATP 500 events in Basel and Vienna could see the Canadian surge into a comfortable place or fall outside the cut.

Auger-Aliassime, who is seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, currently holds the final qualifying spot for the season finale, to be played from 13-20 November. Tenth-placed Novak Djokovic, this year’s Wimbledon winner, has already qualified under the Grand Slam champion provision.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (as of 23 October)

^{*Djokovic has qualified under the Grand Slam champion provision}
The winner of back-to-back titles in Florence and Antwerp, Auger-Aliassime now has a 340-point advantage over eighth-placed Taylor Fritz (2,885). He is just 215 points behind sixth-placed Andrey Rublev (3,440) and 330 points behind fifth-placed Daniil Medvedev (3,555).

Auger-Aliassime could climb as high as fifth this week when he competes at the Swiss Indoors Basel, depending on Medvedev and Rublev’s results in Vienna. If the Canadian triumphs in Switzerland, he will finish the week with 3,635 points in the Live Race.

However, a hiccup in Basel could put Auger-Aliassime on the back foot. Fritz and Hurkacz are the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively, in Vienna. Deep runs at the Austrian ATP 500 could propel them past Auger-Aliassime.

Fritz arrives at the Erste Bank Open fresh after two weeks away from competition and full of confidence following his victory in Tokyo. The American, who like Auger-Aliassime is pursuing his first Nitto ATP Finals qualification, could leave Austria with 3,365 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Hurkacz, who competed at the year-end championships last season, is within reach of a second consecutive appearance at the Pala Alpitour. The Polish star will have 3,270 points if he lifts the Vienna trophy. He will be fully focussed on the match in front of him, as he plays in-form American Frances Tiafoe in the first round.

Only two weeks remain in the Live Race, so time is running out for other players to make a move. Twelfth-placed Cameron Norrie, who played two matches in Turin last year as an alternate, has 2,400 points. Home hope Matteo Berrettini, a 2021 qualifier, has 2,375 points.

Norrie, Berrettini and players placed below them in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin will try to earn as many points as possible this week ahead of the final tournament of the regular season, the Rolex Paris Masters, an ATP Masters 1000 event.

Did You Know?
Sixteen of the Top 20 players in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin are in action this week.

Brandon Nakashima and Jiri Lehecka have qualified for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, joining Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune and Jack Draper. The 21-and-under season finale will be played at the Allianz Cloud in Milan from 8-12 November.

Nakashima will compete in the prestigious event for the second consecutive year after advancing to the knockout semi-finals last November.

In July, Nakashima cracked the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time. The 21-year-old continued his ascent last month, when he won his first ATP Tour title in San Diego.

This California native has excelled on the big stage this year, reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon and the third round at both Roland Garros and the US Open. Nakashima is the youngest American in the world’s Top 100.

Lehecka broke into the spotlight early in the season at the ATP 500 in Rotterdam. Entering the week, the Czech player had not won an ATP Tour match. The qualifier battled to the semi-finals, defeating then-World No. 12 Denis Shapovalov along the way.

The effort helped the 20-year-old crack the world’s Top 100 for the first time. Lehecka reached a career-high World No. 59 in August.

The Czech also lifted an ATP Challenger Tour trophy on home soil in Liberec and made another Challenger final in Mauthausen, Austria.

There will be no shortage of popcorn matchups in the first round of the Swiss Indoors Basel.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz will start his tournament against #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper, while second seed Casper Ruud will open against former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka. Both clashes will be first-time ATP Head2Head meetings.

Alcaraz will meet Draper in what could be the first meeting of a longtime rivalry. Alcaraz is set to compete in his first Nitto ATP Finals, while Draper will make his Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals debut. The lefty, who has an all-around game, will try to prevent his Spanish opponent from finding rhythm in Switzerland.

The last time Ruud competed in Basel, in 2019, the Norwegian lost in the second round of qualifying. Now he is the No. 3 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and will pursue his fourth title of the season. Ruud has proven successful in Switzerland, lifting four of his nine ATP Tour trophies in the country.

It will not be easy against Wawrinka, the home favourite who is trying to win his first title in Basel. The two-time semi-finalist, who recently advanced to the last four in Metz, will try to blast through Ruud’s heavy groundstrokes at the ATP 500. 

The battle between seventh seed Alex de Minaur and Holger Rune could also provide plenty of entertainment. De Minaur is one of the quickest players on the ATP Tour, but he will also try to take the action to Rune to prevent the Dane from controlling play with his big baseline game.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, will open against home favourite Marc-Andrea Huesler. Former World No. 1 Andy Murray will play Roman Safiullin. Murray was originally slated to play American Sebastian Korda, who withdrew due to injury.

If Daniil Medvedev is to win his second title of the season at the Erste Bank Open, he will need to battle through a daunting path of tough opponents.

Medvedev, who opens against three-time ATP 500 titlist Nikoloz Basilashvili, could face resurgent former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem and sixth seed in the second round and Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals.

Thiem will need to bring his best tennis to make it to a potential clash against Medvedev, as the 2019 Vienna champion will play American Tommy Paul in the first round.

There are plenty of intriguing first-round clashes that carry implications on the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. Rublev, who is sixth in the Live Race, will play former Top 10 star Diego Schwartzman. Rublev leads their ATP Head2Head series 2-1.

Hubert Hurkacz, who is ninth in the Live Race, will need to be sharp against in-form American Frances Tiafoe. They have split their four ATP Head2Head meetings, but Tiafoe carries momentum from his runs to the US Open semi-finals and the Tokyo final.

Eighth seed Matteo Berrettini found his form in Naples, but will need to make a quick turnaround in Vienna against Briton Daniel Evans. Berrettini has won both their previous showdowns, but those matches came on grass at Queen’s Club. The Italian will need to navigate Evans’ tricky game, full of spin and angles.

Felix Auger-Aliassime is making his case for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals loud and clear.

The Canadian won his second title in as many weeks on Sunday when he defeated Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 for the European Open trophy in Antwerp.

“It’s another great week. I played some great tennis and really fought hard to stand here in front of you today, so big shoutout and thank you to my team,” Auger-Aliassime said during the trophy ceremony. “My coach and my physio [are] here and my whole family that came all week, so thank you very much, it’s been a great week.

“It wouldn’t be so special of course [if we weren’t] in front of all of you. That’s why we play tennis, to play in front of big numbers of people like this on centre court, so thank you all for coming in big numbers this week.”

Auger-Aliassime remains seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, but he now holds a 340-point lead over eighth-placed Taylor Fritz. Auger-Aliassime currently holds the final qualifying position because 10th-placed Novak Djokovic has guaranteed his place under the Grand Slam champion provision, which awards entry to a current-year major winner who finishes between eighth and 20th in the Live Race.

The Canadian arrived in Florence last week fresh off a first-round exit in Astana. Since then, the 22-year-old has won eight consecutive matches, with six of those victories coming in straight sets. He produced a nearly flawless performance on Sunday to earn the Antwerp crown after one hour and 26 minutes.

Earlier this year, Korda defeated Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-2 on the clay of Estoril. This proved to be a very different match, with the Canadian taking a 2-1 lead in their ATP Head2Head series.

“You got me good last time we played, so I’m happy I was able to get a win over you,” Auger-Aliassime said. “You’re such a great player, so keep going like this and good luck to you and your team for the rest of the year.”

Auger-Aliassime earned his first service break at 3-2 in the first set, hitting a stunning forehand passing shot up the line to secure the lead. The three-time ATP Tour titlist did not relinquish control of the match after that.

The 22-year-old controlled his service games with his big serving, but he also changed the rhythm well with timely drop shots. Korda, who was trying to claim his second ATP Tour title, struggled to consistently put his opponent under pressure.

The American earned his biggest opportunity at 2-1 in the second set, when he held two break points at 15/40. Korda was not able to convert those opportunities, and Auger-Aliassime not only held his serve in that game, but broke his opponent’s in the next.

Auger-Aliassime finished his victory in style, holding to love before unleashing a big roar in celebration as his team stood and applauded their man’s effort. Both Auger-Aliassime and Korda will travel to Basel, where they will compete in the ATP 500 event.

Korda was unable to lift the trophy, but he will take confidence from advancing to consecutive finals in Gijon (l. to Rublev) and Antwerp.

“Back to back finals is a great achievement,” Korda said during the trophy ceremony. “Unfortunately we couldn’t get it done today, but we’ll be back in the next coming weeks and hopefully we [will] go one step further.”

Did You Know?
Auger-Aliassime lost his first eight ATP Tour finals, but has since won three of four championship matches, with all three of his victories coming in straight sets.

Lorenzo Musetti capped his stunning week at the Tennis Napoli Cup on Sunday when the 20-year-old prevailed 7-6(5), 6-2 against Matteo Berrettini in an all-Italian championship match in Naples.

The fourth-seeded Musetti claimed a pulsating 82-minute opening set against his countryman by staying consistent to clinch the only point against serve in the tie-break. Moving a set ahead seemed to invigorate the #NextGenATP star to find an even higher level, and his clean hitting off both wings overwhelmed Berrettini in the second set as he accelerated to a two-hour, one-minute victory.

“It was a really tough first set,” said Musetti in his on-court interview. “Very long and [no breaks]. Matteo is [a competitor], he was not 100 per cent physically. His capacity to stay until the end, to fight until the end, was a big problem for me to solve.

“Today I think I played not the best tennis because I think we were both really emotional, really nervous and there was a lot of tension, but in the important moments I played better. It’s really nice to be here with my family, with the crowd, and it’s a really big win for me and an important moment for my career.”

Berrettini had struggled with a foot injury in his semi-final win against Mackenzie McDonald on Saturday but the World No. 16 looked to be moving well as he and Musetti played out a series of exhilarating early exchanges from the baseline to the delight of the home crowd. It was Musetti who maintained his level to take the opener, however, as a single Berrettii unforced error on his own serve at 3/3 in the tie-break proved decisive.

Musetti immediately took control of the second set by breaking for 1-0 in the second set and the the fourth seed never looked like relinquishing that advantage as he effectively manouevered the physically fading Berrettini around the court. He broke the big-serving second seed again in the seventh game and completed victory having won 85 per cent (35/41) of points behind his own first delivery.

Musetti moved past Laslo Djere, Daniel Elahi Galan, Miomir Kecmanovic and Berrettini this week in Naples to clinch his second ATP Tour crown. He is the ninth player on Tour to win a title in 2022 without dropping a set.

“I think it was the perfect week,” said Musetti after his victory. “I didn’t lose a set so I’m really happy about that, and I’m really happy about the game I showed. Sometimes you have to work hard to bring success and consistency in my game, so I’m really proud of myself and my team.”

Having also reached the semi-finals on the indoor hard courts in Florence last week, Musetti carries significant momentum into the final weeks of the 2022 season. The Italian is currently third in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan and has already secured his spot at November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for the second consecutive year.

Just three ATP Tour events remain this year before the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, two of which will be played this coming week.

The Swiss Indoors Basel and the Erste Bank Open in Vienna will provide some of the final opportunities for players to jockey for qualification for the year-end events, with the Milan field being finalised after this week’s play. 

Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud lead the field in Basel, while Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas are the top seeds in Vienna.

ATPTour.com looks ahead at five things to watch from each event.

View Draws: Basel | Vienna

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN BASEL:
1) Alcaraz Returns: Playing in his second ATP Tour event since claiming the US Open title and reaching World No. 1, the Spaniard will look to bounce back from a shock first-round exit in Astana earlier this month. The top seed in Basel will contest an intriguing opening-round match against #NextGen ATP Briton Jack Draper as he bids to strengthen his position atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. 

2) Refreshed Ruud: The Norwegian rose to a career-high No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings following his run to the US Open final, but Ruud struggled to a 1-2 record in his past two events, making early exits as the top seed in Seoul and Tokyo. With the benefit of three full weeks off to recharge, the 23-year-old will be put to the test immediately in Basel as he opens against home favourite Stan Wawrinka, a two-time Swiss Indoors Basel semi-finalist.

3) Red-Hot Felix Chases Turin Debut: The 22-year-old Canadian owns the seventh spot in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, which would be the final qualification place should Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic remain outside the Top 8. Auger-Aliassime enters Basel on the heels of titles in Florence and Antwerp. He will face Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler in the first round. 

4) Veteran Stars Murray, Wawrinka In Bottom Half: While Wawrinka opens against Ruud, Murray will open against Roman Safiullin after Sebastian Korda withdrew. Wawrinka is seeking his first win since a semi-final run in Metz late last month, while Murray reached the Gijon quarter-finals in his last outing, losing to Korda in three sets. Murray is competing in Basel for the first time since 2005, when he was 18.

5) #NextGenATP Party: Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, Draper, Brandon Nakashima and Dominic Stricker are all competing in Basel. Of that group, only Musetti, Rune and Draper have locked in their places at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals. Nakashima is closing in on his second consecutive appearance, while Stricker is trying to make his tournament debut. Naples champion Musetti is seeded eighth in Basel and faces Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the opening round, while Stockholm winner Rune takes on seventh seed Alex de Minaur.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN VIENNA:
1) Medvedev Back After Astana Injury: Medvedev was involved in a match-of-the-year contender against Novak Djokovic earlier this month in the Astana semi-finals, from which he was forced to retire with a pulled adductor muscle in his leg. He returns as the top seed in Vienna and will seek to reproduce the form he showed in Kazakhstan when he takes on Nikoloz Basilashvili in the opening round. Medvedev is fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and looks to seal his Turin spot and pursue a second Nitto ATP Finals title (2020).

2) Tsitsipas Seeks Third Straight Final: The Greek has enjoyed a strong start to the indoor season, reaching finals in Astana and Stockholm. Already confirmed for Turin, Tsitsipas meets Austrian wild card Dennis Novak in the opening round, with Borna Coric a potential second-round opponent in what would be a rematch of the Cincinnati final, which was won by the Croatian.

3) Hometown Thiem: After reaching consecutive semi-finals in Gijon and Antwerp, Dominic Thiem will look continue his resurgence in his native Austria. The 29-year-old will open against American Tommy Paul and could meet Medvedev in a marquee second-round matchup. The 2019 Vienna champion will seek his first tour-level title since winning the 2020 US Open.

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4) Rublev, Fritz Battle For Turin: Andrey Rublev sits in sixth place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, while Taylor Fritz is on the outside looking in as the eighth-placed player. Rublev, who won his fourth title of the year in Gijon, must navigate a difficult opening assignment against Diego Schwartzman while Fritz will start against a qualifier as he seeks his Nitto ATP Finals debut.

5) The Chasing Pack: Behind Rublev and Fritz is another quartet of Turin hopefuls in Vienna. Hubert Hurkacz, Cameron Norrie, Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner are all in position to make a late charge, but need deep runs in both Vienna and Paris to enter the Top 7 in the Race. All four men are seeded at the ATP 500, with Hurkacz drawing the highest-ranked opponent in World No. 17 Frances Tiafoe in the first round.

#NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune wrote another chapter into his standout season on Sunday at the Stockholm Open, where he upset top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 to win his second tour-level title.

The 19-year-old opened his shoulders and hit through the World No. 5 throughout the one-hour, 35-minute clash, firing 20 winners and saving the one break point he faced to earn his third Top 5 win.

The Dane now leads Tsitsipas 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series after defeating the 24-year-old at Roland Garros in June. Rune is up to No. 24 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his title run at the ATP 250 event.

“It was an unbelievable match from my side,” Rune said in his on-court interview. “I knew it was going to be difficult, but I just tried to stick to the game plan. I had to play my best tennis today and it was good that I could find the level. I am super happy.

“It was very close to perfection. I was making a lot of returns and playing pretty well behind my serve. Stefanos is an amazing player, who always makes it difficult. It was a super fun match to play.”

In an aggressive display, Rune took the ball early and successfully targeted Tsitsipas’ backhand, outlasting the Greek on the crosscourt exchanges. The 19-year-old also demonstrated great touch around the net, closing points efficiently when moving forward to help him seal his memorable win.

Earlier this season, Rune clinched his maiden tour-level trophy in Munich, where he defeated then-World No. 3 Alexander Zverev en route to the crown. With his victory over Tsitsipas, the 19-year-old has become just the second teenager to win multiple tour-level titles this year, joining Carlos Alcaraz.

Rune will look to finish his season strongly. He will compete in Basel next week before he takes to court at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals – to be held from 8-12 November – for the second consecutive season.

Tsitsipas was aiming to win his 10th tour-level title and third this season, having tasted success in Monte Carlo and Mallorca. The Greek lifted the trophy in Stockholm on debut in 2018, but was unable to overcome Rune in a heavy-hitting clash.

Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek held their nerve in a Match Tie-break for the second time in as many days on Sunday to clinch the Tennis Napoli Cup in dramatic fashion.

The top seeds prevailed 6-3, 1-6, 10-8 against Matthew Ebden and John Peers in Naples by reeling off four points in a row to recover a 6/8 deficit in the decider. Despite their Australian opponents having the momentum for much of the second half of the championship match, Dodig and Krajicek found a late surge to wrap an 84-minute win and lift their second tour-level crown of the year.

“It was very difficult,” said Dodig after the match. “In doubles a lot of matches are decided by a few points. Today, like yesterday, I think we connected good shots in big moments, and it was the key. Sometimes it doesn’t happen, but we have felt great these last two weeks, we’ve played really good tennis and have a lot of confidence, and I think that was the main reason for the win.”

Having reached the final in Florence a week ago, Dodig and Krajicek dropped just seven games across their opening two rounds at the ATP 250 event in Naples. They then edged Lorenzo Sonego and Andrea Vavassori 11/9 in a Match Tie-break in Saturday’s semi-finals before downing Ebden and Peers in the championship match.

“I think Ivan and I played well throughout the two weeks,” said Krajicek. “Different conditions obviously, indoors [in Florence] and outdoors here, so we did a good job adjusting. Tough one in the final last week, Eddie (Edouard Roger-Vasselin) and Nico (Nicolas Mahut) played really well, but we were excited to give ourselves another chance here, and in the big moments there at the end I think we played well and fortunately we came through there.”

Sunday’s win bolstered Dodig and Krajicek’s outside chance of qualifying for November’s Nitto ATP Finals in their first season as a full-time partnership. It lifted the Croatian-American pairing two spots to 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings.