Alex de Minaur becomes seventh player to qualify for ATP Finals, with just one spot remaining now

Alex de Minaur has become the seventh player to qualify for this year's ATP Finals, securing his spot by reaching the quarterfinals in Paris.

And he did it in style, too, dominating Karen Khachanov in the third round of the Masters 1000 event on Thursday, 6-2, 6-2. It was his 55th win of the year, second only to Carlos Alcaraz for most wins for a man this season.

De Minaur joins Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton—who also qualified on Thursday—in the field.

The Australian will be making his second career appearance at the event, having also qualified last year, falling in the round-robin stage.

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Khachanov was a rough draw for De Minaur on Thursday—not only had he won the pair's last two meetings, but he's also a former champion at the Rolex Paris Masters, winning his biggest career title there in 2018.

But De Minaur saved all three break points he faced and converted four of his five break opporunities en route to a runaway 68-minute victory.

And then, the on-court interviewer told him about Turin.

"Is that actually confirmed?" De Minaur asked, and was then reassured that it was true. "Jeez, that feels amazing. I mean, there's been a lot of stress going on the last couple of weeks of the year. I did my best not to keep an eye out on the race but it's too hard. It's the first I've heard, and I'm extremely proud. Now I can finally just relax for a bit."

He was then asked if it's his routine to avoid checking the race.

"You don't want to add extra elements to your head," the Australian replied. "There's a feeling in the back of your mind, you kind of know where everyone's at, but I didn't know that with a win today I was qualified, so yeah, I'm extremely stoked, and just to be able to bring out this level under the circumstances. It means the world to be here in the quarterfinals, and now I can go out and enjoy it a little bit more.

"You just made my day a whole lot better. Thank you."

It's been another excellent season for De Minaur, highlighted by winning the 10th ATP title of his career at the ATP 500 event in Washington D.C. and another final (also at an ATP 500) in Rotterdam, falling to Alcaraz.

He's also reached three more semifinals at Monte Carlo, Beijing and Vienna and seven more quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Doha, Barcelona, Canada, the US Open, Shanghai and now Paris.

That's 12 times reaching the quarterfinals or better on the tour this year, and half of them came at the Masters 1000 level or higher.

This is also the first time the Australian has won 50 or more matches in a single season, and he's already up to 55 after today's victory. He also leads the men's tour for hard-court wins this year with 42.

Just one spot remains in the field at this year's ATP Finals now.

Stay tuned to TENNIS.com for all the latest race updates this week, and stream ATP action from Paris on the Tennis Channel App!