NOT SINCE Lleyton Hewitt graced the courts has an Australian male been so high in the world rankings, with Alex de Minaur becoming the first since Hewitt to reach the ATP Finals. The event in Turin kicks off on Sunday with the Aussie officially earning his place after world number five Novak Djokovic withdrew.

Enjoying a breakout season, de Minaur had moved ahead of eighth placed Andrey Rublev in the ATP Race for Turin, though was only marginally clear of the Russian. Initially entered at Belgrade in Djokovic’s home country of Serbia, once word had filtered through that the former number one had pulled out, de Minaur withdrew from the ATP 250 event having already secured his ATP Finals place.

Rublev also withdrew from Metz ahead of his second round match – having already played one contest prior to Djokovic’s withdrawal – while seventh ranked Casper Ruud who was also in danger of losing his place at Turin went down swiftly to make a quick turnaround to the prestigious event a little easier.

Yesterday the two groups were drawn for the ATP Finals, with de Minaur receiving world number one Jannik Sinner, world number four Daniil Medvedev and world number six Taylor Fritz. Ruud and Rublev seeded sixth and eighth respectively at the event will take on the second and third ranked players in Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz.

Against his group opponents, de Minaur has a winning record against Fritz (5-3), but is down against Medvedev (3-6) and has never beaten Sinner from seven chances with the most famous being the deciding Davis Cup tie two years ago.

ATP FINALS GROUPS

Ilie Nastase Group

Jannik Sinner
Daniil Medvedev
Taylor Fritz
Alex de Minaur

John Newcombe Group

Alexander Zverev
Carlos Alcaraz
Casper Ruud
Andrey Rublev

The format of the event runs the same way as the current WTA Finals, with each player taking on the other three competitors in their group. Following the round-robin part of the competition, the top two players from each group will advance to the knockout semi-finals. Each of the group-toppers will face the opposite runners-up for a spot in the final, with as much as $7.3 million AUD on the line for the ATP Finals champion.

The news followed an announcement from de Minaur who has established the newly-branded Australian Junior Tour which will become the de Minaur Junior Tour. He is working to further have a scholarship program designed to support high-achieving juniors to ensure they have the resources and mentorship they need.

“I’ve been fortunate to have learnt so much from my mentors over the years,” de Minaur said.

“I want to pass on the knowledge I’ve gathered throughout my journey and help young Aussie athletes to improve and become the best version they can be.”