Jannik Sinner's loyalties split after denying Felix Auger-Aliassime an ATP Finals spot

The race for the ATP Finals has gone down to the wire. There is one remaining spot up for grabs in Turin, and Felix Auger-Aliassime would have confirmed his qualification by lifting the Paris Masters title on Sunday. But he couldn't get the job done, suffering a 6-4 7-6(4) defeat to Jannik Sinner.

Auger-Aliassime is locked in battle with Lorenzo Musetti for the eighth and final place at the ATP Finals. The Canadian currently leads by 160 points in the race, but he's withdrawn from next week's Moselle Open in Metz, while Musetti will be in action at the ATP 250 in Athens.

It means that Musetti will qualify for the season-ending championships if he lifts the title in Athens. Any other result, and it will be Auger-Aliassime who gets the last spot at the ATP Finals.

And Sinner can't decide who he's rooting for. The world No. 2 has known Auger-Aliassime for years, and he was well aware of the Canadian's situation at the Paris Masters. After lifting the title, Sinner told Auger-Aliassime that he hoped to see him in Turin.

"Felix, amazing week. I know you had a lot of pressure, you have been in a very difficult spot throughout the whole week, I hope for you that it pays off playing in Turin," the newly-crowned Paris Masters champion said during his victory speech.

"Congrats to you and your whole team. You are, for sure, one of the nicest people on tour and if you keep playing like this, you're going to have some of this, I'm very sure. I wish you all the best for hopefully the rest of the season, but obviously the rest of your career."

However, Sinner also wants to see his countryman, Musetti, make it to the ATP Finals for the first time in his career - especially because the tournament is staged in Turin.

The Italian, who will return to No. 1 in the world on Monday, told Sky Sports Italy: "Hopefully Lorenzo can make it.

"It will be very difficult, but we hope so because in any case it would be fantastic for Italy to have two players in the singles and a pair in the doubles.

"In the end, we're a team when we're not playing against each other, and we try to push each other to the maximum."

Musetti will be busy battling it out in Athens of the coming week, as Auger-Aliassime faces a nervous wait to see whether he's done enough to make it to Turin. Meanwhile, Sinner is looking forward to taking a brief break before attempting to defend his ATP Finals crown.

Sinner won the season-ending championships without losing a match last year. This time around, he and Carlos Alcaraz will be locked in a battle for the year-end No. 1 ranking.

"After a week like this, it has been very intense, so I'm extremely happy. I will take a couple of days off. It's very important now for the body but also for the mind. Then of course we try to prepare ourselves for the best possible way then in Turin," the 24-year-old said.