De Minaur firms up Turin hopes in Vienna surge
Two weeks from the Nitto ATP Finals, Alex de Minaur’s flawless run to the Vienna semifinals solidifies his seventh-place hold in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, as Lorenzo Musetti closes in and Felix Auger-Aliassime battles injury for a Paris breakthrough.
With the Nitto ATP Finals just two weeks away, the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin intensifies like the crisp autumn air over Europe’s indoor arenas. Following the ATP 500 events in Basel and Vienna, momentum swings highlight players grinding for those elusive top-eight spots. Alex de Minaur anchors the chase from seventh, his Vienna performance a blend of tactical poise and mental grit that echoes the season’s high-stakes rhythm.
De Minaur locks in seventh with Vienna precision
The Australian has cemented his spot in seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin after he reached his fifth tour-level semi-final of the season in Vienna. De Minaur did not drop a set en route to the last four before he lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in straight sets. Sinner leads De Minaur 12-0 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series.
At 26, he heads to Paris with 3,745 points, 540 clear of ninth-placed Felix Auger-Aliassime, the first player outside the cut. Indoor hard courts suit his speed, where he redirects pace with crosscourt backhands and inside-out forehands, turning defense into quick points. This buffer offers breathing room, yet the psychological edge sharpens as he eyes a second straight Turin appearance, converting Vienna’s clean sheet into qualification security.
Musetti climbs on home soil dreams
Lorenzo Musetti gained a crucial 200 points in his quest to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Vienna, where he reached the semi-finals. The Italian beat Hamad Medjedovic, Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Corentin Moutet at the ATP 500 event and is now 480 points clear of Auger-Aliassime. Musetti is hoping to make his debut at home in Turin and join countryman Jannik Sinner in Italy.
Now eighth with 3,685 points, his Vienna run showcased one-handed backhand slices that skimmed the lines, forcing errors in tight rallies, followed by down-the-line winners to seal sets. The crowd’s roar in the Austrian hall mirrored his rising fervor, a tactical pivot from earlier inconsistencies to sustained aggression on the fast surface. Paris looms as his next proving ground, where maintaining that one–two punch of underspin and topspin could pair him with Sinner under the Inalpi Arena lights from November 9-16.
Auger-Aliassime eyes Paris redemption
Felix Auger-Aliassime sits ninth at 3,205 points, his Brussels title glow dimmed by a quarterfinal retirement in Basel due to injury. The hard-court pullout disrupted his rhythm, where powerful serves and inside-in forehands had built momentum earlier in the fall. A deep run in Paris is vital, with just 250 points available afterward in Athens and Metz to breach the top eight.
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev have already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, taking place from 9-16 November at Inalpi Arena in Turin. For Auger-Aliassime, the mental hurdle lies in channeling recovery into focused patterns, like deeper returns to neutralize big servers. As De Minaur and Musetti hold firm, his fight embodies the race’s raw tension, where Paris could rewrite the standings and ignite a late surge to Turin.
