The aptly named ‘Race to Turin’ has taken another interesting twist in the last couple of days. As the final few tournaments are played prior to the End of Year Masters, quite literally, every match counts. And for some, their quest to qualify for Turin has been given a huge boost. This is certainly the case for Felix Auger-Aliassime. The young Canadian bagged another tournament victory at the 250 level last week. And this one came on the indoor hardcourts of Florence, Italy.
Auger-Aliassime put in a string of great performances to lift the trophy on Sunday, October 16th. Along the way, he beat the likes of Otte, Nakashima, Musetti, and an up-and-comer in the form of J.J. Wolf in the final. In doing so, he secured 250 ATP points that count in the Race to Turin. Not only that, the victory has moved him up to 7th place in the Pepperstone Rankings regarding Turin qualification.
This has caused many to speculate that Auger-Aliassime is all but qualified already. However, I can tell you now that he hasn’t officially qualified for Turin 2022. There are still several qualifying tournaments to be played between now and November 13th – the Turin End of year Masters start date. And Auger-Aliassime has a couple of guys who are hot on his heels. These guys are Taylor Fritz, Hubert Hurkacz, and even Cam Norrie is still in the mix.
With that said, what does Auger-Aliassime actually need to do to seal his place at the End of Year Masters? Let’s take a look.
Felix Auger-Aliassime – Close to Turin 2022 Qualification, but Not There Yet
At the time of writing, as stressed earlier, Auger-Aliassime is now 7th in the Race to Turin rankings. This puts him in a good position, but he isn’t over the line just yet. In fact, he still has a job to do to secure his spot for Turin 2022. Here is the scoop:
A Good Performance at Antwerp 250 This Week
Felix stressed after his title run in Florence last week that he plans to play as many of the remaining tournaments as possible in the build-up to Turin. He acknowledged that the race is extremely close right now, and many guys could still steal his spot. But a major chance for Auger-Aliassime to cement his place is in Antwerp, Belgium, this week. Auger-Aliassime is the number 2 seed in this event, and if he makes another title run, he is pretty much confirmed for Turin 2022.
Remaining ATP 500 and Masters Tournaments
With more than 3,000 points in the bag already, Auger-Aliassime is sitting pretty going into the last few weeks of the ATP Tour. However, it’s worth pointing out that there are three 250 events being held this week. And beyond these, there are two 500-level events due to take place next week. Of course, this is then wrapped up with the Masters 1000 event in Paris right before Turin is scheduled to be played.
Should Auger-Aliassime at least have a decent run in these tournaments, he should make it.
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