"I was happy three days ago, because three days ago I knew I’m in Turin" - Stress-free ATP Finals qualification as Daniil Medvedev pinpoints when he knew Turin return was on

The next couple of weeks will decide who is set to feature in the ATP Finals, and it is going down to the wire for many. That is no longer the case for Daniil Medvedev who, after another strong run, has confirmed his spot in the showpiece event but did not seem too stressed about the prospect following his quarter-final win at the Vienna Open.

He is the fourth player to have confirmed his spot in the event. With Jannik Sinner injured, he joins Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton in Turin after missing out last year. Focusing on current events, he is gunning for the title in the Austrian capital after defeating Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-3.

After the early scare of a ball boy collapsing at the back of the court, Medvedev steamed ahead. He already had a break lead by the time of the incident and added to that at the end of the set, moving 5-2 ahead before backing that up with a commanding hold.

Mannarino tried his best to find a way back into it but was unable to. After taking a 3-2 lead on serve, he would not win another game in the entire match. The Russian ticked off four games on the spin to get over the line in his 100th ATP Tour quarter-final to reach the semi-finals for the third time.

The Frenchman is normally a tricky customer on court, but this time around Medvedev found the right tools to tackle him and reduce the threat. He seemed to have enjoyed the style of the match as he explained afterwards to Tennis TV.

“You have to be ready for long rallies. That’s his type of game — to get you in uncomfortable positions. And that’s my style, as well,” he said. “So, in a way, some points were about who gets the other one in uncomfortable position and manages to consolidate the point.

“And I feel like I was a bit better in this. I made probably a bit more winners, I put just tiny bit more pressure on him than maybe he did on me. And happy that it worked.”

Since exiting the US Open at the last-16, Medvedev has competed in five tournaments. He has reached the semi-final stage in all five of them, although the China Open debacle resulted in him being defaulted with his ranking points and prize money taken away.

Overall, proved not to be the biggest factor when coming to the ATP Finals qualification. Titles in Hangzhou and Almaty along with semi-finals in Shanghai and now Vienna have got the former World No.1 enough points to get him back to Turin. He competed in each edition from 2019 to 2024, winning the 2020 version before a poor 2025 saw him miss out. Now, he is back in the mix with 3,810 points to his name, and it proved to be a stress-free scenario.

“Always? No," he said when asked if he felt like he would qualify for the ATP Finals. "Especially after US, I thought it would be a bit tight. But probably after Shanghai, I felt like I’m probably in. And especially after Almaty, I knew I was in.

“So, for me, it’s a bit like… am I happy today? No. I was happy three days ago, because three days ago I knew I’m in Turin. So, today doesn’t change much, but I’m happy to win this match.”