Sawt Falasteen - Ruud qualifies for ATP Finals after reaching Seoul quarters

The Norwegian, who was the runner-up at both the French and US Opens this season, saw off Nicolas Jarry of Chile 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in Seoul.

Ruud reached the semi-finals of the season-ending event in Turin last year before losing to Daniil Medvedev.

"I just got the news that I qualified for the ATP Finals in Turin again this year and I'm so much looking forward to coming back to Italy," Ruud told atptour.com.

"I had such a great time last year, it's a great country for tennis."

Ruud is playing in his first singles tournament since the US Open where he had a chance to take the world number one spot.

But he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the final, with the Spanish teenager instead becoming the youngest top-ranked men's player in history.

Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal have already booked their places in the eight-man field for the ATP Finals which take place from November 13-20.

"My goal for this year is to finish in the top three in the ranking," Ruud, who played at the Laver Cup last week, added.

"But there are many good players that probably feel the same, so if I can do that I'll be very happy."

The 23-year-old will face Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan for a semi-final spot in Seoul on Friday after overcoming a second-set blip against the 111th-ranked Jarry.

"The first set went very well, but in the second set it was tough to break him. I had to work hard and I was very happy to get the win in the end," Ruud said.

Second seed Cameron Norrie also advanced to the quarter-finals on Thursday by beating Japan's Kaichi Uchida 6-2, 6-2, while third seed Taylor Fritz withdrew due to illness.

X.Habash--SF-PST