Due to his premature elimination at the Paris Masters 1000, in which he was defeated by his compatriot Lorenzo Sonego despite having a set advantage, Lorenzo Musetti risks not qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
The Italian ace has been chasing this goal for most of the season and deserves a place in the last huge event on the ATP calendar, but Felix Auger-Aliassime is back to play his best tennis since the US Open and has always been a very dangerous player in indoor conditions.
The Canadian star struggled a lot in the first three rounds at the 'Dfense Arena', always having to recover a set down (against Comesana, Muller and Altmaier), but he showed all his resilience and put in an impeccable performance against Valentin Vacherot in the quarterfinals today. The Monegasque player was exhausted after the sensational victories of the recent period and collected just four games against a deluxe version of Aliassime, who regained confidence especially thanks to the semifinal reached in New York at the end of the summer.
Aliassimeis only 90 points behindMusetti
Felix is only 90 points behind Musetti in the ATP Race at the moment and will overtake if he enters the final of the last Masters 1000 of the year. Should he lift the trophy in the French capital and win his first career Masters 1000, he would become unattainable for Lorenzo and celebrate qualifying for Turin without needing to play in Metz next week.
The talent from Carrara on the other hand has just asked for a wild card from the organizers of the Athens ATP 250 and will be forced to make an extra effort to make his dream come true.
Alternatively, Musetti should hope that Serbian legend Novak Djokovic misses the ATP Finals for the second year in a row. The former world number 1 has never confirmed his presence in Turin and has repeatedly admitted that only the Slams are his priority at this stage of his career. The 38-year-old from Belgrade will play in Athens next week.
