Race To Turin: Metz offers Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz Finals opportunity

ATP Tour
Daniil Medvedev in action

World No 4 Daniil Medvedev and World No 9 Hubert Hurkacz will look to use the onset of the European indoor season in Metz to get the jump on their rivals in the Race to Turin.

Medvedev is sitting in a moderately comfortable fifth in the race stakes and has probably already done enough to qualify for the event despite only notching one tour victory this season in Los Cabos.

He will start as the heavy favourite to take the title in his debut in Metz with the next highest-ranked player in the field being Hurkacz at the opposite end of the draw.

Medvedev has often gone deep this season only to lose in later rounds or championship matches and would love to bag a morale-boosting win in the lead up to the Paris Masters and the ATP Tour finals.

So far only US Open Champion Carlos Alcaraz and Australian Open and Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal have clinched qualification for the event.

Their qualification also ensures that Novak Djokovic is just about guaranteed his place as the only Grand Slam winner not already qualified.

Djokovic only needs to remain in the top 20 to be eligible to take the eight spot in Turin which will otherwise go to the person who finishes in the 8th spot on the race standings after Paris.

Hurkacz can move into that eighth spot with a tournament win in the Green City.

He stands to move ahead of Alexander Zverev, who might not be fit to take part in Turin in any case and it would also leave him within striking distance of moving into the top seven in the coming weeks.

Crucially a number of players just ahead of Hurkacz in the Race To Turin aren’t in action this week with no entries forthcoming for Andrey Rublev, and Felix Auger-Aliassime selected for the Team World squad for the Laver Cup.

Metz will also be significant in the Race to Milan for the NextGen talents.

No 3 in the Race to Milan, Lorenzo Musetti is also the third seed in Metz while the NextGen No 4 Holger Rune is also seeded fourth and as such enjoys a bye into the second round.

Jiri Lehecka and Brandon Nakashima can use the tournament to consolidate their positions in the top eight.

Musetti and Jannik Sinner lead a strong list of young Italians pushing for a place in a tournament on home soil.

One of the other contenders, Luca Nardi squandered his opportunity to close on the top eight when he suffered a first round exit in Metz.

Meanwhile, No 9 on the Race to Milan Francesco Passaro is in action in Genoa at the ATP Challenger Tour event as is compatriot Matteo Arnaldi.

READ MORE: Daniil Medvedev has ‘no reason to cry’ about losing No 1 spot to Carlos Alcaraz as he looks to the future

Daniil Medvedev Hubert Hurkacz

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