Who will finish the year as American No. 1: Taylor Fritz or Ben Shelton?
The battle for American No. 1 is coming down to the very end of the season.
Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton are battling for the spot at the Nitto ATP Finals with one round-robin match remaining for each at Inalpi Arena.
Fritz is currently No. 5 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings with 4,135 points, 165 points ahead of No. 8 Shelton.
Shelton began the week ahead of his countryman, but Fritz has gone 1-1 in group play in Turin compared to 0-2 for Shelton. The 200 points Fritz earned by defeating Lorenzo Musetti in his opening match of the week helped him climb past the lefty.
Although Shelton can still claim year-end American No. 1 from Fritz, he faces an uphill battle. The former University of Florida standout must defeat defending champion Jannik Sinner on Friday to have any chance.
If Shelton does not defeat Sinner, Fritz will finish the season as at the top-ranked American for the fifth consecutive year. The last player other than Fritz to hold the position was John Isner in 2020.
Fritz takes on Alex de Minaur on Thursday, when he will try to book his spot in the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals for the third time in his third appearance. If he wins that match, he will clinch year-end American No. 1, because Shelton cannot qualify for the semi-finals.
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