GettyImages-1351266659

UPDATE: With his 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-5 quarterfinal win over James Duckworth on Friday, Hubert Hurkacz has clinched the final berth at the ATP Finals:

Advertising

The ATP Finals are in for a Ruud awakening.

The tour's season-ending championships, relocated to Turin, Italy after a 12-year stay in London, welcomed its seventh competitor on Thursday, after Casper Ruud defeated Marcos Giron in the round of 16 at the Rolex Paris Masters. The eighth-ranked Norwegian's 6-2, 6-1 win over the American was his 53rd of the season (against just 14 defeats), and he's vying for his sixth title of 2021 in Paris-Bercy. But regardless of his results from here, Ruud has earned a coveted spot in the men's tennis finale.

Advertising

Ruud's inclusion gives the ATP Finals some truly new blood. Of the six players who previously qualified—Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and Matteo Berrettini—four are former champions and five are former participants, with Berrettini being the first alternate at last year's event. The 22-year-old began the 2020 season ranked just outside the Top 50, ended it ranked No. 27, and has now guaranteed himself a finish inside the Top 8.