Rune Rises To Third In Race To Milan, Draper & Musetti In Contention

A series of standout clay-court results has seen Dane Holger Rune strengthen his chances of qualifying for the 2022 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held in Milan from 8-12 November.

The 19-year-old currently sits third in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Milan on 503 points after recently capturing his first ATP Tour title in Munich, where he earned the biggest win of his career against World No. 3 Alexander Zverev.

Rune, who also came through qualifying to reach the second round in Monte Carlo, will be aiming to make his second appearance in Milan, having competed at the 21-and-under event last year.

Pepperstone ATP Race To Milan Standings (Full List)

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz triumphed in Milan last year and leads the Pepperstone ATP Race To Milan on 3,460 points after soaring to back-to-back trophies on home soil in Barcelona and Madrid. By eliminating Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev en route to the trophy in Madrid, Alcaraz became the first player since David Nalbandian in Madrid in 2007 to defeat three top four stars at an ATP Masters 1000 event.

Two Italians currently occupy second and fourth place, with 2019 victor Jannik Sinner on 1,250 points and Lorenzo Musetti on 486 points. Sinner advanced to the quarter-finals on home soil at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, earning wins over Pedro Martinez, Fabio Fognini and Filip Krajinovic.

Musetti has flourished on clay in the past month, holding a 10-4 record on the surface this year. The 20-year-old enjoyed runs to the third round at all three clay-court Masters 1000 events this season in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome.

Jack Draper (413 points) and Jiri Lehecka (406 points) are both aiming to qualify for the 21-and-under event for the first time and are currently well placed in fifth and sixth, respectively. Briton Draper has earned four ATP Challenger Tour titles this year and reached the second round in Madrid, while Czech Lehecka holds a 23-14 record across all levels in 2022.

The 20-year-old advanced to the final at a Challenger Tour event last week and reached his first tour-level semi-final in Rotterdam in February.

Chun-hsin Tseng of Chinese Taipei has captured two Challenger Tour crowns in 2022 and is currently seventh on 292 points, one place ahead of 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Brandon Nakashima, who has 200 points.

Italians Flavio Cobolli and Luca Nardi have clinched three Challenger Tour trophies between them this year and round out the Top 10. The pair both received wild cards to compete in Rome last week, but suffered first-round exits on home soil.