Tsitsipas, Rublev among chasing pack eyeing Live Race boost in North America

After seven months of the 2024 season, a seven-pronged battle for eighth place has emerged in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

The world’s top players are preparing for an ATP Masters 1000 doubleheader at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers in Montreal and the Cincinnati Open. Several members of the chasing pack will be keen to give a mid-season boost to their chances of booking a spot at the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals, to be held in Turin from 10-17 November.

With plenty of points available across Montreal and Cincinnati, the Live Race may well look completely different in two weeks’ time. As things stand, just 575 points separate Stefanos Tsitsipas in eighth (the final qualification spot for the prestigious season finale) and 14th-placed Lorenzo Musetti.

PIF ATP Live Race To Turin

The champion on his Nitto ATP Finals debut in 2019, Tsitsipas is chasing his sixth consecutive appearance at the season-ending showpiece. He lifted his third Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters crown in April but has not won a match at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers since 2021. He reached the final on event debut in Toronto in 2018, however, and is also a former Cincinnati finalist (2022). Tsitsipas knows that a big two weeks in North America could distance himself from the chasing pack.

In ninth and 10th, respectively, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul will hope that a return to familiar territory can help them make inroads towards Turin qualification. Fritz, who is 135 points behind Tsitsipas, has not been past the third round in five appearances at the Canadian Masters 1000, but he is a two-time Cincinnati quarter-finalist and has a habit of raising his game on home soil: the 26-year-old won his first Masters 1000 crown in Indian Wells in 2022.

Paul defeated then-World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz en route to his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final in Toronto last year. Despite holding a moderate 5-5 record in Cincinnati, the three-time ATP Tour champion is playing some of the best tennis of his career and will view the return to hard courts as a big opportunity to push his claim for a Turin debut.

Like Tsitsipas, 11th-placed Andrey Rublev has established himself as a Nitto ATP Finals regular. The No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings has had a topsy-turvy 2024, but he remains in contention for a fifth consecutive appearance at the season finale. He will hope to build on his quarter-final run in Washington last week with a deep run in Montreal, where he has not won a match across two previous appearances.

Currently in 12th, former Cincinnati titlist Grigor Dimitrov is bidding to return to the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time since he triumphed on his only previous appearance in 2017. Just 185 points behind the Bulgarian in 13th is his good friend Hubert Hurkacz. Both players have enjoyed consistent seasons so far and have each won an ATP Tour title (Dimitrov in Brisbane, Hurkacz in Estoril).

Jannik Sinner, who is the top seed in Montreal, leads the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and is in a strong position to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. Could 14th-placed Musetti give home fans a second Italian contender to cheer on in November in Turin?

The 22-year-old Musetti has enjoyed a stellar summer and has won 22 of 28 matches since the start of Roland Garros in late May. He reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon in July and last week claimed bronze at Paris 2024, Italy’s first medal at the Olympic Tennis Event in 100 years. Although he is 7-9 on hard courts this year, Musetti’s recent surge will ensure he takes to court for his Montreal debut full of confidence.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]