Tennis New: ATP Finals 2022 - Who has qualified for the annual tennis finals so far?

Naturally, when the end of the calendar year approaches, tennis fans worldwide begin to speculate about who can qualify and who can win the year-ending tournament.

Things are no different in 2022, but the tournament will sport a reasonably new look given the players who have either qualified or could potentially make it in the coming days.

For now, let us look at who all have already made the cut and rank their chances of winning the tournament.

New world's number one Carlos Alcaraz is set for his maiden appearance at the event. Besides, the other players who have qualified are Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic, it is worth noting, qualifies for the tournament despite not being in the top eight of the rankings as things stand.

He’s in the tournament because of a provision in the rules that allows a Grand Slam winner in the calendar year to qualify for the ATP Finals, assuming they are in the top 20 of the rankings.

Djokovic won Wimbledon this year and is within the top 20, meaning his win in the Astana Open tournament guaranteed he would appear in the year-ender for the 15th time.

Any hopes of another round of Djokovic vs Nadal action, however, are up in the air. That is because it remains uncertain if Nadal will even play in the tournament.

This is because the Spaniard has struggled with injuries throughout the year and has only played one match since his fourth-round US Open exit – the doubles match at the Laver Cup alongside Roger Federer, which was the swansong of the latter.

Besides Djokovic, the one clear-cut favourite would be Alcaraz. The young Spaniard has been a man in fine form this year and is riding a massive wave of momentum, winning the US Open and taking the top spot in the rankings.

The fact that he’s improved massively as a hard-court player and beaten the likes of Ruud this year means he’s the clear favourite other than Djokovic.

One player who could spring a surprise is, in fact, Ruud. He made it to two Grand Slam finals this year – the French Open and the US Open – but lost both of those matches.

However, the fact that he made it that far shows he has what it takes to hang with the best, and the Norwegian could be one to watch in this tournament.

It’s also worth noting that a host of players with unique qualities are still in the hunt for that final spot.

Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Hubert Hurkacz are all competing for the last three spots – although that could be four spots since Medvedev also suffered a minor knock recently.

One thing is sure – the 2022 ATP Finals will be a tournament to watch out for, mainly for the number of up-and-comers willing to stake their claim to be the next big thing in men’s tennis.