Sinner, Schwartzman, Shapovalov - who is pushing towards Turin?
The US Open 2021 starts next Monday. It is the last big chance to collect a lot of points in the Race to Turin.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Aug 25, 2021, 08:49 am
Let's assume that Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune would elegantly win the US Open in 2021. And Hubert Hurkacz lost in round one. Then Rune, who of course won't win the US Open in 2021, would suddenly be in ninth place in the Race to Turin. And thus have a starting place in the season finale. Because after Rafael Nadal's end of the season, ninth place in the annual standings is enough to be safe in Turin.
Nadal is not the only player who has regularly qualified for the season finale in recent years (even if he has not always competed) and will definitely be absent in 2021. Dominic Thiem, 2019 and 2020 finalist in London, will also be missing in Turin. And Roger Federer made his last performance at the finals almost two years ago, where he was eliminated in the semifinals against the eventual champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Sinner lagging behind Hurkacz
With Casper Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz, who won a tournament in the ATP Masters 1000 category for the first time in Miami this year, two players are in a good position who have never made it to the finals. The first reservist at the moment would be Jannik Sinner, who would of course prefer to play for the title in his home country. Sinner is currently almost 400 points missing from Hurkacz, the tournament victory in Washington has brought the South Tyrolean back to business.
However, as many points can no longer be scored, with the exception of three major events: Of course, at the US Open, which starts on Monday, where the winner takes 2,000 points home. In addition, there are two 1000s on the calendar, Indian Wells and Paris-Bercy. Finally, the Erste Bank Open would also be a good place to get a maximum of 500 points for the annual ranking.
Candidate Cameron Norrie
Diego Schwartzman does not play into the cards that the above-mentioned events all take place on a hard court. The Argentine made his debut in London last November, also based on his participation in the semi-finals in Roland Garros. Schwartzman could not repeat this this year, with a place in the finals it will be very close. This also applies to the two Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime, who are still not quite meeting the high expectations that have accompanied them for years.
So maybe Aslan Karatsev after all? Probably not. The semi-finalist of the Australian Open has cooled down noticeably, the results of the last few months do not point to a big end of the season spurt. But one man could have a say about a place in Turin if the tournament went well: Cameron Norrie. The Brit is secretly playing a very strong season and is twelfth in the race. But to really get into the top eight of the annual ranking, Norrie would have to do a sensational run at the US Open.