ATP Race to Turin update: Norrie climbs after first title

The ATP Race to Turin is heating up as the tennis season is over the halfway point and heading into the critical hard court schedule. The ATP Finals will host the top 8 players of the 2021 season in November.

Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, who sat at No. 15 in the ATP Race Rankings heading into the Los Cabos event last week, achieved a nice boost to an already great season. He defeated 19-year-old American Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-2 to earn his first career ATP title and move up to No. 12 in the race.

Norrie will look to try and earn a spot into the Top 8 for the year-end finals in Turin, Italy. He has a lot of work to still do considering the talent around him.

Here is the current year-to-date Top 15:

1) Novak Djokovic (SRB)- 7,170 points

The undisputed best player of 2021. The Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon champion. Djokovic is the only player to have already locked a spot into the ATP Finals and will, obviously, look to add to his healthy lead.

Note: The ATP Finals Qualification Cut is 6,405 points.

2) Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)- 4,660 points

Tsitsipas is the Monte-Carlo Masters and Lyon champion. He was runner-up at the French Open (Djokovic), Acapulco (Zverev) and Barcelona (Nadal), as well as adding a semifinal appearance in the Australian Open.

3) Matteo Berrettini (ITA)- 3,505 points

The Italian had great grass court efforts this season to rise up to the No. 3 spot. He was the runner-up to Djokovic at Wimbledon and won the Queen’s Club event leading up to the major. Solid clay court results, like runner-up in Madrid and champion in Belgrade, also has helped contribute to his good standing.

4) Andrey Rublev (RUS)- 3,250 points

At the start of the season, Rublev and fellow countryman Daniil Medvedev won the ATP Cup. He was 26-5 in his first seven events, also winning Rotterdam and being runner-up in Monte Carlo. He has fallen off a bit after the hot start and is 12-6 since with a runner-up result in Halle.

5) Alexander Zverev (GER)- 3,195 points

The Madrid Masters and Acapulco champion is in decent position after those results but has some missed opportunities. For example, an early-round loss to World No. 83 Emil Ruusuvuori at the Miami Masters event. A result like his 2020 US Open runner-up finish should secure his spot if he is able to repeat it.

6) Daniil Medvedev (RUS)- 3,020 points

Along with winning the ATP Cup, Medvedev added an Australian Open runner-up and Marseille title earlier this season. The World No. 2 has done enough in non-hard court events to be in a good spot to move up in the ATP Race after winning a grass court title in Mallorca and making a deep run at the French Open.

7) Rafael Nadal (ESP)- 2,940 points

Believe it or not, Nadal has never won an ATP Finals title. As long as he stays healthy he should remain in the top eight spots. It hard to believe a player like Hurkacz or Ruud could pass Rafa at this point, especially since Nadal’s worst results at a tournament this season have been quarterfinal appearances.

8) Hubert Hurkacz (POL)- 2,190 points

After losing six straight matches on Tour, Hurkacz bounced back by making a run to the Wimbledon semifinals. His season has been filled with highs and lows. He won at Delray Beach in January, then went 4-5 his next 9 matches, won the Miami Masters event and followed that with only one win prior to Wimbledon. The current big-result dependency could leave him in jeopardy of missing out if he doesn’t build some type of consistency for the rest of the year.

9) Casper Ruud (NOR)- 2,020 points

Along with Norrie, Ruud also won a title last week (Gstaad). Two weeks ago, he won another clay court event in Bastad. Add one more ATP 250 clay court win in Geneva from earlier in the season, and semifinal appearances in both Monte Carlo and Madrid and Ruud finds himself in contention for the ATP Finals. Unfortunately, he will have to leave his favorite surface and look to earn a spot with his play on the hard courts.

10) Aslan Karatsev (RUS)- 1,785 points

The Russian player that people didn’t know much about until this year is still in the mix for a spot. Karatsev burst onto the scene after a remarkable run to the Australian Open semifinals. In March, he won an ATP 500 title in Dubai. Since his 12-2 start, he is 11-9 with only one finals appearance in Belgrade. Karatsev is going to be in need of a hard court resurgence.

11) Denis Shapovalov (CAN)- 1,635 points

Shapovalov’s Wimbledon semifinal result served as a big boost and, frankly, is the only reason why he in position to earn a potential spot. The good thing is that the World No. 10 has room for improvement and a couple of significant results can truly get him into the conversation.

12) Cameron Norrie (GBR)- 1,590 points

Norrie has 35 wins on the ATP Tour this year. Only Tsitsipas (40) and Rublev (36) have more. He has played very well in lower level Tour events but needs to get a significant result at the US Open or a Masters 1000 tournament in order to have a realistic shot at playing in Turin.

13) Jannik Sinner (ITA)- 1,520 points

The leader of the Race to Milan, the Next Generation ATP Finals for players 21-and-under, could see himself in the ATP Finals as well. He is in this position because of a Melbourne title and Miami Masters runner-up finish earlier in the season. Sinner hasn’t made the quarterfinals of a tournament since mid-April so he needs to accumulate deeper runs in tournaments.

14) Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)- 1,495 points

This year’s Hamburg and Marabella champion was a set away from making last year’s US Open final. It’s tough to see Carreno Busta making it into the top 8 unless he makes another deep run.

15) Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)- 1,365 points

Currently second in the Race to Milan, Auger-Aliassime has gained half of his year-to-date points in his last three events. He is 0-8 in Tour finals so this summer would be a great time to finally breakthrough and win his first career title.

You can check out the full FedEx ATP Race to Turin rankings here.