The fall season is a funny time for tennis players. Some find themselves hanging on for dear life, the efforts of the previous months catching up with them, their minds crying out for them to stop. Some, like Jack Draper, Elina Svitolina, Daria Kasatkina, and Emma Raducanu, have already called time on the year.

For others, the last few tournaments offer a golden opportunity, a chance to make it to the prestigious end-of-year ATP and WTA Finals. While the rolling 52-week rankings don’t always tell the story, especially early in the year, the ATP Race, which shows a player’s calendar-year ranking points, makes it clear. 

As we hit the final few weeks of the season, on the men’s side there appears to be a two-horse battle for the eighth and last spot, with Lorenzo Musetti just over 500 points ahead of Felix Auger-Aliassime. Novak Djokovic, who sits third, is still mulling over whether he will play in Turin or not, so it’s entirely possible they might both get in. But the race for that eighth spot is keeping both men going, and what happens this weekend in Brussels, where both are in action, could yet be significant.

Halfway through the year, Musetti was sitting pretty. Having gone 19–4 in the clay-court season, including a run to the French Open semifinals, the Italian was in the top five of the ATP Race. An injury stopped him in his tracks, however, and it took a return to form at the US Open, where he made the last eight, to restore his belief that he can qualify for the Finals for the first time.

“The US Open was really, really important,” Musetti said in an interview with The Second Serve this week. “It was not [looking] that great. After the semifinal in [the] French Open, I got injured and spent one month at home. I didn’t play anything on grass, and I lost a lot of points at Wimbledon when I was not that healthy to play and to win matches there. Then the journey in America with Washington, Toronto, Cincinnati, was a little bit complicated. I had three huge matches with many chances in all three matches, but what was missing was a little bit of confidence. Luckily, I got back the confidence at the US Open, and that probably was the turnaround of the end of the season.”

Every top player wants to make the ATP Finals; of course they do. But Musetti has extra motivation, with a chance to make history alongside world No. 2 Jannik Sinner. “It would mean the world,” Musetti said. “It would mean the world for me, because, of course, it’s going to be a first for Italy, the first time with two players, two Italians in Turin. It will be awesome, really special for everyone who is involved. I always went there to do some sponsor [events] or stuff, but I never had the chance to really play there. The main goal of the season was Turin, and I’m pretty close, so I don’t want to stop now.”

Musetti’s backhand has been a thing of beauty from the moment he stepped onto the tour, but in the past couple of years, he’s added bulk, like Sinner, and consistency, to the point where, at the age of 23, he is becoming a regular fixture at the back end of tournaments. Making the finals would be further validation that he continues to move in the right direction.

“It’s something that we wanted,” he said, “and something that, of course, we didn’t [just] expect. Honestly, I was dreaming to have the chance to fight for this goal. It [would be] something for myself, for my team, for the people who are working with me, because we know how much work we put in, how much sacrifice we have done to try to go there, to reach these kinds of goals.

“There are also other goals in terms of ranking, try to achieve a higher ranking in the end of the season, and try to go for it. There’s still three, four tournaments, and then the Masters. The mentality is to give 110 percent.”

Musetti is a laid-back personality, occasionally fiery on the court but generally focused on getting better, honing his talent. Chasing a place in the ATP Finals means keeping an eye on the points, but he’s not someone who’s been agonizing over the numbers. 

There is just one thing that might stop him. Musetti is due to become a father for the second time at some point in November. With both the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup Finals in the same month, it’s not ideal timing. It helps that they are both in Italy, but as a proud family man, Musetti may yet have a difficult choice to make. “It’s pretty, pretty close,” he admitted. “So we are going to see what happens there, and we will [make] a decision.”