Can Ruud, Rublev strengthen qualification hopes during critical Basel-Vienna week?

pThe PIF ATP Live Race To Turin continues to heat up with three weeks remaining for players to qualify for the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a. With two ATP 500 events this week, the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/basel/328/overview'Swiss Indoors Basel/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/vienna/337/overview'Erste Bank Open/a, contenders for the season finale have an opportunity to earn vital points./ppSeventh-placed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/casper-ruud/rh16/overview'Casper Ruud/a and eighth-placed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andrey-rublev/re44/overview'Andrey Rublev/a will both try to shore up their standing this week when they compete in Basel. Ruud is 225 points ahead of Rublev, who owns a 265-point edge over ninth-placed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-de-minaur/dh58/overview'Alex de Minaur/a./ppldquo;When yoursquo;re in this position, you think about [the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a] quite a lot, of course,rdquo; Ruud said in Basel. ldquo;Itrsquo;s a fun chase and itrsquo;s excitinghellip; Itrsquo;s good to have something to really motivate yourself with.rdquo;/pp/ppstronga rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/rankings/singles-race-to-turin" target="_blank"PIF ATP Live Race To Turin/a (as of 20 October)/strong/ppstrong/strong/ptable style="width: 100%;" tbody tr tdnbsp;strongPlayer/strong/td tdnbsp;strongPoints/strong/td /tr tr tdnbsp;7) a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/casper-ruud/rh16/overview'Casper Ruud/a/td tdnbsp;3,845/td /tr tr tdnbsp;8) a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andrey-rublev/re44/overview'Andrey Rublev/a/td tdnbsp;3,620/td /tr tr tdnbsp;9) a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-de-minaur/dh58/overview'Alex de Minaur/a/td tdnbsp;3,355/td /tr tr tdnbsp;10) a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tommy-paul/pl56/overview'Tommy Paul/a/td tdnbsp;3,135/td /tr tr tdnbsp;11) a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/grigor-dimitrov/d875/overview'Grigor Dimitrov/a/td tdnbsp;3,100/td /tr tr tdnbsp;12) a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/stefanos-tsitsipas/te51/overview'Stefanos Tsitsipas/a/td tdnbsp;2,875/td /tr /tbody/tablepRuud last qualified for the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a in 2022, when he advanced to the championship match (lost to a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a). The Norwegian is in good position to earn his place in the season finale for the third time and can further improve his chances with a strong performance in Switzerland./ppThe 25-year-old is the second seed in Basel and will play Antwerp champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roberto-bautista-agut/bd06/overview'Roberto Bautista Agut/a in the first round. It is a difficult opening matchup for Ruud, who trails Bautista Agut 1-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series./p[ATP APP]pRublev is trying to qualify for the year-end championships for the fifth consecutive season. He is in the final qualifying position, but will be keen to make a deep run this week to build his advantage over the chasing pack, led by De Minaur./ppThe Australian has never qualified for the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a, but could improve his chances of competing at Inalpi Arena by advancing through the Vienna draw. De Minaur will open his tournament against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jan-lennard-struff/sl28/overview'Jan-Lennard Struff/a./ppAnother player seeking his first a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a qualification is 10th-placed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tommy-paul/pl56/overview'Tommy Paul/a, who improved his standing by winning the Stockholm title. The American is 485 points behind Rublev for the final qualifying spot, making a deep run in Vienna critical. Paul faces a tricky challenge in the first round against countryman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/brandon-nakashima/n0ae/overview'Brandon Nakashima/a./ppEleventh-placed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/grigor-dimitrov/d875/overview'Grigor Dimitrov/a, the Stockholm runner-up and 2017 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a champion, is competing in Vienna. a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/stefanos-tsitsipas/te51/overview'Stefanos Tsitsipas/a, the 2019 season finale winner, is in action in Basel./pp[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p