ATP Finals Race to Turin: How Musetti and de Minaur’s Vienna defeats affect standings
Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti were both in Vienna Open action on Saturday, and both tasted semi-final defeats as their missions to seal ATP Finals qualification stalled.
Australian star de Minaur lost for the 12th time in as many meetings against top seed Jannik Sinner, falling to a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to the Italian, while Musetti was beaten 6-4, 7-5 by second seed and world No 3 Alexander Zverev.
Both men were looking to significantly boost their standings in the Race to Turin, but now go into the Paris Masters next week still looking to secure their spot; here are how the standings look as things stand.
Who has qualified?
So far, four men have sealed their spot at the ATP Finals.
Way out in front of the rest of the field are Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner, who are in first and second place, respectively.
They are then followed by Novak Djokovic, who was the third man to qualify after a hugely consistent season — though there are still doubts as to whether he will enter the event.
Despite a challenging season, Zverev has sealed his own spot at the ATP Finals during his Vienna Open campaign, the German a two-time winner of the year-end championships.
By beating Musetti in Vienna, Zverev has now moved to third in the race.
How have de Minaur and Musetti been affected?
By losing in the last four in Vienna, both de Minaur and Musetti will officially leave the tournament with 200 ranking points.
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That puts de Minaur up to 3,745 points in seventh, while Musetti holds 3,685 points in eighth place in the ATP Race to Turin.
A total of 330 points were on offer for reaching the final, and both have missed the chance to move up in the race after their semi-final losses.
Had de Minaur beaten Sinner, he would have moved above Ben Shelton into sixth, with the American just 25 points ahead of the Australian heading on 3,770 points.
After de Minaur’s defeat, Musetti had the chance to move above both the Australian and Shelton, as he would have moved to 3,815 points had he prevailed against Zverev.
Can they still qualify?
Though they could have made life a lot more comfortable for themselves, both men are still in strong positions to qualify for the ATP Finals.
Two of the men chasing them, Felix Auger Aliassime and Casper Ruud, both retired injured in their Swiss Indoors quarter-finals on Friday night.
They earned 100 race points as a result — but that means that both de Minaur and Musetti have increased their lead ahead of the chasing pack.
A total of 440 points now separates Musetti in eighth and Auger Aliassime in ninth, meaning the Canadian will have to make significant ground across his final two qualifying events — the Paris Masters and Moselle Open — to seal a top eight place.
With all of Shelton, de Minaur, and Musetti also in Paris action, the Canadian and Ruud will have their work cut out to seal an automatic position.
ATP Rankings Race to Turin
1) Carlos Alcaraz, 11,040 – Q
2) Jannik Sinner, 8,830 (Vienna Final) – Q
3) Alexander Zverev, 4,610 (Vienna Final) – Q
4) Novak Djokovic, 4,580 – Q
5) Taylor Fritz, 3,885
6) Ben Shelton, 3,770
7) Alex de Minaur, 3,745
8) Lorenzo Musetti, 3,685
9) Felix Auger-Aliassime, 3,245
10) Jack Draper, 2,990
11) Casper Ruud, 2,835
