ATP Finals
Frances Tiafoe and Rafael Jódar have qualified for the ATP Finals, completing the eight-man field for Turin (15 to 22 November). Both places were settled in the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Friday 6 November, when Ben Shelton beat Tommy Paul and Carlos Alcaraz saved two match points to beat Taylor Fritz. Neither Tiafoe nor Jódar was playing: both lost in the second round in Paris and had to wait on other results.
How the Last Two Places Were Decided
Paul and Fritz both needed a deep run in Paris to pass them. Shelton, who had already qualified, beat Paul 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the first quarter-final of the day, with 19 aces. That ended Paul’s chance and put Tiafoe, one of Shelton’s closest friends on tour, into Turin.
Fritz needed a semi-final. He won a 12-10 first-set tie-break against Alcaraz and had two match points in the second set, the first with Alcaraz serving at 3-5 and the second on his own serve at 5-4. Alcaraz saved both, broke back and won 6-7(10), 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 45 minutes. It was Alcaraz’s seventh win in eight meetings with Fritz, and it gave the last place to his countryman Jódar.
The Field
| Race | Player | Points | At the ATP Finals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexander Zverev | 9,350 | Ninth qualification, champion in 2018 and 2021 |
| 3 | Carlos Alcaraz | 5,500 | Runner-up in 2025 |
| 4 | Ben Shelton | 4,920 | Second qualification |
| 5 | Daniil Medvedev | 3,820 | Champion in 2020 |
| 6 | Flavio Cobolli | 3,680 | First appearance |
| 7 | Arthur Fils | 3,625 | First appearance |
| 8 | Frances Tiafoe | 3,390 | First appearance |
| 9 | Rafael Jódar | 3,234 | First appearance |
Points are from the live Race to Turin on 7 November, with Alcaraz and Shelton still playing in Paris. Jannik Sinner is second in the Race but ended his season with a knee injury, which is why the ninth-placed player qualifies. Alex de Minaur finished tenth, 64 points behind Jódar, Fritz 11th and Paul 13th.
Tiafoe’s Best Season
Tiafoe, 28, qualifies at the end of the best season of his career. He won the title in Halle, reached the Cincinnati final, his second Masters 1000 final after Cincinnati in 2024, and also made the final in Acapulco. He reached the US Open semi-finals for the third time, beating Medvedev on the way. With Shelton he makes two Americans in the field for the second year running, after Shelton and Fritz in 2025.
Jódar’s Rise
A year ago Jódar was a student at the University of Virginia and ranked No. 166. He played the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2025, and is the first player to reach the ATP Finals the year after the Next Gen event since Alcaraz in 2021 and 2022. This season he reached the Shanghai final and a career-high of world No. 10. With Alcaraz, it is the first time two Spaniards have qualified directly since Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer in 2015.
Firsts and Records
- Four first-time qualifiers: Cobolli, Fils, Tiafoe and Jódar.
- Fils is the first Frenchman in the field since Gaël Monfils in 2016, and Cobolli keeps an Italian in the singles field for the fourth year in a row.
- Shelton is trying to become the first left-handed champion since John McEnroe in 1984, and Shelton and Tiafoe the first American champion since Pete Sampras in 1999.
- Zverev, Alcaraz and Medvedev have all been world No. 1, and Zverev goes to Turin as the No. 1.
When Is the Draw?
The groups are drawn in Turin on Thursday 12 November, at about 11:45 UK time, after the pre-tournament press conference. This year the two singles groups are named after John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl. Each group of four plays a round-robin, and the top two in each reach the semi-finals.
Before that, Paris finishes this weekend. Alcaraz plays Casper Ruud and Shelton plays the Frenchman Luca Van Assche in the semi-finals on Saturday 7 November, and the final is on Sunday. The ATP Finals are live on Sky Sports Tennis and NOW in the UK. Full coverage is on our ATP Finals hub, alongside the stories on how Cobolli and Fils qualified.