Carlos Alcaraz has become the latest player to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals, but US Open finalists Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton were big winners in the ATP Rankings Race to Turin.
Although Alcaraz sits at No 4 in the Race behind Zverev, Jannik Sinner and Shelton, the reigning Australian Open champion secured his spot at the season-ending event as one of the current-year Grand Slam champions.
Two-time defending champion Sinner was the first player to secure his spot in Turin with his qualification coming on the back of winning five consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles and successfully defending his Wimbledon title.
Zverev’s spot in the field was confirmed in August with his maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros the deciding factor, and Alcaraz has now joined the party thanks to the Grand Slam champion rule.
The top seven players in the ATP Race to Turin after the cutoff date in November qualify for the tournament with one spot reserved for a current Grand Slam winner, who sits between eighth and 20th in the Race.
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With Zverev and Sinner already confirmed for Turin, that spot has now gone to Alcaraz, meaning the top eight in the Race will secure tickets to the season-ending event.
Zverev’s title run at Flushing Meadows has seen him overtake Sinner at No 1, and he is the favourite to be the top seed in November as the Italian has more points to defend between now and the ATP Finals.
Shelton, who won the Canadian Open in August, is next in line to qualify as he has moved up to third after finishing runner-up to Zverev at the US Open with the American enjoying a 900-point lead over Flavio Cobolli in fifth place.
Only 380 points separate Cobolli and Arthur Fils in seventh with Frances Tiafoe sandwiched between the pair after reaching the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows.
2020 ATP Finals champion Daniil Medvedev occupies the final spot, but there are only 450 points between the Russian and seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in 15th place.
Djokovic has qualified for the tournament for eight consecutive years from 2018 to 2025, but he opted not to compete in 2024 and 2025.
Since first qualifying in 2007, the 24-time Grand Slam winner has failed to make the cut just once and that was in 2017 when he struggled with injury, but even if he does finish in the top eight this year, it is unlikely he will play.
