Daniil Medvedev qualifies for ATP Finals thanks to lucky Paris Masters draw

Saturday, 29 October 2022 at 22:00

Updated at Wednesday, 26 July 2023 at 14:23

byTom Grant

Daniil Medvedev has qualified for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin thanks to Fridays' Paris Masters draw.

The Russian has had a disappointing year by his standards, losing to Rafael Nadal when two-sets to the good at the Australian Open final in January and failing to get past the fourth round at the French and US Opens.

He was forced to miss Wimbledon due to the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine and has dropped to World No.4 after being World No.1 in February.

On Sunday, Medvedev will seek only his second ATP title of the season when he faces Denis Shapovalov in the Vienna Open, his lowest title return since 2018.

But he has now secured his place at the ATP Finals next month due to a quirk with the draw for the final tournament of the regular men's season, the Paris Masters in Bercy.

Due to Medvedev being drawn in the same half of the Masters 1000 event as Andrey Rublev, on-form Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Hubert Hurkacz - the four players directly underneath him in the live race - the Russian can now not be outside the top eight for Turin.

Medvedev would need to be overtaken by three of those four chasers in order for him to miss out on Italy, but the Bercy draw ensures only two of these players now have a chance to make it past round three and potentially pass him in the race.

A win in Sunday's final over Shapavalov would take Medvedev past the 3920-points qualification marker in any case, but he can now go into that match knowing the pressure is off.

It ensures that there will be an added importance for next week's competition in Paris, with all eyes now on who will take up the last three spots for the finals, with Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Novak Djokovic and now Medvedev already on the plane to Italy.