Ruud’s ATP Finals hopes hit by defeat in Basel; Rublev, De Minaur, Dimitrov boosted

October 23, 2024

The Norwegian is seventh in the ATP Race but could be overtaken this week by Andrey Rublev and Alex de Minaur

Zuma / Panoramic

Casper Ruud‘s hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals for the third time in four years hit a snag on Wednesday when he was beaten in the first round of the Swiss Indoors in Basel.

The Norwegian sat in seventh place in the ATP Race going into this week but his loss to Roberto Bautista Agut has opened the door to the chasing pack.

Grigor Dimitrov, Andrey Rublev and Alex de Minaur were the immediate beneficiaries – all of them are still in their respective events this week – but Tommy Paul missed out too when he lost to Brandon Nakashima in Vienna.

Roberto Bautista Agut continues in incredible form, gets a 6th conseutive win — and one of his best in recent years — to beat #8 Casper Ruud 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and reach the 2nd round in Basel.

Ruud can be passed in the Race by Rublev and De Minaur this week. pic.twitter.com/5Mkxg1yjFu
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) October 23, 2024

Both Rublev and De Minaur could now overtake Ruud this week.

Four men have qualified automatically so far – Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev – while Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic sit fifth and sixth. Djokovic confirmed on Wednesday that he will not play next week’s Paris Masters, the last counting event, and may not even play in Turin.

The season-ending ATP Finals, for the top eight players in the calendar year, begin in the Italian city on November 10.