Taylor Fritz will end the best season of his career with an appearance in the year-end ATP Finals after the Amercian's place was confirmed on Tuesday.
Fritz generated attention ahead of the Paris Masters by dying his hair blonde, which he explained when asked about it, but Fritz also entered the final Masters 1000 tournament of the year on the cusp of qualifying for the ATP Finals.
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, and Daniil Medvedev were the four men who had already sealed their spots, meaning Sinner's place was not threatened by his withdrawal from the Paris Masters.
Fritz was in a strong position at fifth in the race for the year-end tournament in Turin before the Paris Masters began. Eight men qualify for the ATP Finals, with Novak Djokovic in sixth, Casper Ruud in seventh, and Andrey Rublev in eighth.
Although Fritz's place looked quite secure, Ruud, Rublev, Alex de Minaur, Grigor Dimitrov, and Tommy Paul could still mathematically overtake him. Djokovic's withdrawal from the Paris Masters means he cannot move ahead of Fritz.
However, any doubts about Fritz's place have been put to rest after two upsets on Tuesday at the Paris Masters. Rublev lost a tight match to the Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, leaving him 580 points behind Fritz in the live rankings.
There are only two ATP 250 tournaments at the Moselle Open and the Belgrade Open next week before the ATP Finals. That means even obtaining 250 points for winning one of those tournaments would not be enough for Rublev to overtake Fritz.
The other upset on Tuesday was French veteran Adrian Mannarino beating Tommy Paul 6-3, 7-5. Not only can Paul no longer overtake his compatriot Fritz, but his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals are over.
Fritz is a great competitor and will undoubtedly try as hard as he can in Paris, but he can now relax a little after officially making it to the year-end finals and reflect on his impressive achievements throughout 2024 that led to his qualification.
The 27-year-old's best moment of 2024 was undoubtedly reaching the US Open final. He had to navigate a very challenging draw to make that a reality, but Fritz played inspired tennis throughout his time in New York.
After beating Camilo Ugo Carabelli, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini, and Francisco Comesana in the opening three rounds, he overcame the 2022 runner-up at Flushing Meadows Casper Ruud in the fourth round.
That was followed by beating Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinal before an epic and memorable 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 triumph against his compatriot Frances Tiafoe in the semifinal.
World No. 1 Sinner proved too strong in the final, winning in straight sets. Still, Fritz must have been incredibly proud of reaching the final, and it probably gave him confidence about his chances of securing a major title in the future.
Fritz also won titles at the Delray Beach Open and the Eastbourne International and finished as the runner-up to Jan-Lennard Struff at the Bavarian Open in 2024.