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US Open 2022 runners-up Casper Ruud qualified for the ATP Finals for the second consecutive year on Thursday, joining the Spanish duo of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in the eight-player tournament. The tournament will be played from November 13-20 in Turin.
The Norwegian player said that he was looking forward to rubbing shoulders with the top tennis players and he was happy to be back playing tennis in Italy. "I just got the news that I qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin again this year and I'm so much looking forward to coming back to Italy. I had such a great time last year, it's a great country for tennis," Ruud said. Ruud guaranteed his spot in the year-end championships by winning his second-round match in Seoul against Nicolas Jarry. After making his breakthrough in 2021, Ruud has elevated his game to new heights this season. The 23-year-old has tallied 47 tour-level wins, third on the ATP Tour behind only Alcaraz (52) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (49). (49). He sits at a career-high No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the highest placing of any Norwegian in history (since 1973). (since 1973). Ruud advanced to both his first major championship match at Roland Garros and his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Miami. He has captured ATP 250 medals in Buenos Aires, Geneva and Gstaad. The 23-year-old then reached his second major final at the US Open. At the Pala Alpitour, Ruud made his Nitto ATP Finals debut the previous year. The 2020 champion Daniil Medvedev defeated the Norwegian in the semifinals after the latter had defeated Cameron Norrie and Andrey Rublev. The American-British team of Ram and Salisbury qualifies for the fourth year in a row. After winning the US Open championship on Friday and claiming the trophy, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury earned a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth year in a row. They are the second team to qualify for the season finale, joining Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, whom they defeated in the final at Flushing Meadows. Ram and Salisbury initially qualified for the season's finale in 2019 (round robin), then made it to the semifinals of the year-end championships in 2020, and finally reached the final in Turin in 2021. Ram also attended the 2016 title contest at The O2 in London with Raven Klaasen. Together, Ram, 38, and Salisbury, 30, had won one ATP Masters 1000 championship at the start of the season. With victories at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, they have added two Masters 1000 trophies to their trophy case this year. The American-British team continued to gain momentum after Cincinnati and successfully defended their US Open title in New York. The achievement represented their third Grand Slam trophy together, having also won the 2020 Australian Open. Ram and Salisbury also reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, the BNP Paribas Open and Wimbledon.(ANI)
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