ATP Race Update | Daniil Medvedev and Flavio Cobolli lead the chase for Turin as Djokovic faces crucial weeks

A new update to the ATP Race to Turin follows a week featuring the ATP 250 tournaments in Brussels, Almaty and Lyon, with Daniil Medvedev emerging as the biggest winner in the battle to qualify for the ATP Finals.

The Russian successfully defended a title for the first time in his career after defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili in the final in Kazakhstan. He joined the week's other champions, Lorenzo Musetti and Tallon Griekspoor, in making significant gains in the Race. The standings count only the points earned during the 2026 season and will determine the eight players who qualify for the ATP Finals.

Five places in Turin remain available, with Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton already qualified. Jannik Sinner's absence is also confirmed, as the Italian has been unable to recover from an injury sustained at Wimbledon and has announced that he will not compete in Turin this season to defend his title.

Medvedev and Flavio Cobolli are closing in on qualification for the tournament that brings together the eight best players of the season, although several other contenders remain in the fight. Arthur Fils, Frances Tiafoe and Rafael Jódar currently occupy qualifying positions, but they face pressure from several players competing this week who could move into contention with a deep run.

With three champions crowned last week, Daniil Medvedev was the main beneficiary. The Russian climbed into the top five of the ATP Race and is now the player closest to securing qualification. He is just 20 points behind Flavio Cobolli, and both could potentially qualify as early as this week while competing at the Vienna Open, although they may have to wait until next week's Paris Masters, the final Masters 1000 event of the season.

Another player who made significant progress was Lorenzo Musetti. Having previously sat outside the top 35, the Italian has climbed to No. 28 in the live ATP Race after winning his first title in four years. Musetti defeated Taylor Fritz in the final, denying the American an opportunity to collect valuable points and move closer to qualification. Fritz currently sits at No. 12 in the Race and remains in contention, but he needs strong results in the final weeks of the season to avoid missing out on the year-end tournament.

The week's other champion was Tallon Griekspoor, who earned close to a quarter of his season's points with his title run and climbed nearly 20 places into the top 50. The Dutchman has strengthened his position in the year-end rankings and, if he maintains his current form, could still challenge for a seeded position at the Australian Open ahead of the 2027 season.

Three players have already secured qualification for Turin. Alexander Zverev leads the Race and is in a strong position to see that reflected in the ATP Rankings over the coming weeks following the injured Sinner's early end to his season. The German is on course to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking and will be recognised as the year-end world No. 1 at the ATP Finals.

The final weeks of the season are unlikely to change that outlook significantly, regardless of whether he wins further titles, following a strong year that included triumphs at Roland Garros and the US Open, as well as a run to the Wimbledon final.

The injured Jannik Sinner remains second in the Race, and he is expected to finish the season as world No. 2 despite having been sidelined for months since Wimbledon in July. The Italian will be hoping that Zverev does not collect too many more points in the closing weeks of the year, which could improve his chances of reclaiming the top spot in the rankings at the start of 2027.

Carlos Alcaraz remains third, followed by Ben Shelton in fourth, with both players already qualified for the ATP Finals and competing for the No. 3 position in the year-end rankings. The Spaniard holds a 170-point advantage in points earned this season, despite missing nearly four months of the tour because of injury.

Neither Alcaraz nor Shelton can catch Sinner in the Race this season, leaving them with a separate battle to determine who finishes the year on the ranking podium. Alcaraz currently holds a slight advantage, although the situation could change this week depending on their results in Vienna and Basel.

Medvedev and Cobolli remain well positioned to finish the year with a place at the ATP Finals. With a considerable gap separating them from fourth-placed Shelton, both the Russian and the Italian will look to secure their qualification in Vienna this week. Neither can yet be considered mathematically qualified, but only a major setback would leave them outside the field in Turin.

That leaves three players confirmed for Turin — Zverev, Alcaraz and Shelton — with Medvedev and Cobolli next in line. The battle becomes tighter further down the standings, where Fils, Tiafoe and Jódar are the players currently positioned to qualify.

The 20-year-old Spaniard currently sits 9th in the Race, around 300 points ahead of his closest pursuer, Alex de Minaur. With one ATP 500 and one Masters 1000 event remaining before Turin, Jódar will need a deep run to avoid being caught, particularly with several players still holding realistic qualification chances.

Four players in particular need strong results despite still having realistic chances of qualifying. Alex de Minaur and Novak Djokovic are the closest contenders outside the current qualifying positions and need deep runs this week in Vienna and Basel, respectively, or at next week's Paris Masters to secure their places. Both will also be watching the performances of Jódar and Tiafoe, who face the greatest risk of losing their current positions.

Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul are two other notable names who remain within reach of qualification, although both are around 500 points behind Jódar. They will likely need to win a title in the final weeks of the season, or at least reach a final, to have a realistic chance.

Fritz, in particular, missed an opportunity by losing the final to Musetti, leaving 100 points on the table that could have been especially valuable at this stage of the season.

Their qualification chances remain relatively low, but a surprise run in Paris could still shake up the standings near the top of the chasing pack.

Mathematically, other players such as Jakub Mensik, Brandon Nakashima and Jiří Lehečka also remain in contention. However, they would practically need consecutive titles in Vienna or Basel and then Paris to qualify. It would be a remarkable achievement, but they cannot yet be ruled out. As long as a mathematical path to qualification remains open, they will continue fighting for a place at the 2026 ATP Finals.