Will Draper, Mensik or Shelton make Nitto ATP Finals debut?

Could this be a season in which fresh faces qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals?

Following the Miami Open presented by Itau, three of the top eight players in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin — third-placed Jack Draper, sixth-placed Jakub Mensik and eighth-placed Ben Shelton — are aiming for their maiden trip to the season finale.

Draper has enjoyed his best start to a season, having showed his good form in February by reaching the final of the ATP 500 event in Doha, where he ousted Matteo Berrettini and Jiri Lehecka. That proved just the beginning.

The 23-year-old Briton showed how dangerous his powerful lefty game is by winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells. Draper, who lost just one set en route to the trophy in the desert, where he upset Carlos Alcaraz, only trails Jannik Sinner and Melbourne runner-up Alexander Zverev in the Live Race.

Following Draper's triumph at the BNP Paribas Open, the lefty then travelled to Miami for the second leg of the ‘Sunshine Double’. His first opponent in south Florida was none other than Mensik. The 19-year-old Mensik defeated Draper and rode his own wave of success to claim his first Masters 1000 title.

Draper will try to become the first British player to compete in the Nitto ATP Finals since Cameron Norrie, who did so as an alternate in 2021. Norrie also emerged victorious at Indian Wells that year.

While Draper was inside the world's Top 15 when he earned Masters 1000 glory, Mensik was outside the Top 50 when he lifted the trophy in Miami. The 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF competitor will try to make the jump to Turin one year on.

The Czech, whose best tour-level winning streak entering Miami was two, is now sixth in the Live Race. Mensik, 19, will try to become the first Czech to qualify for the season finale since Tomas Berdych in 2015.

Another player seeking his debut is eighth-placed Shelton, a semi-finalist at the Australian Open and a quarter-finalist in Indian Wells. The big-serving lefty is also the highest-ranked American in the Race To Turin.

Sandwiched in between Draper and Mensik are Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz. Djokovic, who fell to Mensik in the Miami final, is a record seven-time champion at the Nitto ATP Finals. The fourth-placed Serbian has competed at the event 17 times and also ousted Alcaraz en route to the Australian Open semi-finals.

Fifth-placed Alcaraz is attempting to qualify for the fourth straight season. The Spaniard won his first indoor hard court title this year in Rotterdam.

Felix Auger-Aliassime is the only player with two trophies this season, with triumphs in Adelaide and Montpellier. Boasting a 17-7 season record according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Indez, the Canadian is seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. He also reached the ATP 500 final in Dubai. 

Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz round out the Top 10, with Holger Rune and Tommy Paul not far behind.