“I know that I’ve got plenty more to give, so I’m doing my best to make it happen this year, but if it doesn’t happen; I believe that everything happens for a reason, and it’s just going to make me stronger into next year.”

De Minaur’s Paris Masters quarter-final run meant he entered this week with a slight edge over Russian Andrey Rublev for the last spot in Turin, a buffer he could have maintained if he won in Belgrade or matched whatever Rublev did in Metz.

Rublev has already won his way into the Metz quarter-finals, whereas de Minaur opted to withdraw from Belgrade and grab some extra rest once the Djokovic news filtered through.

Joining de Minaur and Rublev at next week’s ATP finals are world No.1 Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz and Casper Ruud.

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De Minaur, 25, last week described his rare injury as a tear at “the insertion of the adductor longus into the fibrocartilage”, which still causes him discomfort while playing and has restricted his famed movement.

On top of de Minaur’s ATP finals qualification, his effort to advance to three major quarter-finals this season also made him the first since Hewitt in 2004 to do so.

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