Alex de Minaur can breathe easy after becoming the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002-03 to qualify for the ATP’s exclusive end-of-year tour finals twice in a row.

After weeks of stress – and fear a hip injury could derail his season again – de Minaur locked in his Turin spot with a 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Russia’s Karen Khachanov to reach the Paris Masters quarter-finals and keep alive his hopes of breaking into the top five for the first time.

Only the tour’s eight best-performed players make the cut at the prestigious event in the Italian city, and the Australian star was surprised to find out after his win that he was in.

“That’s actually confirmed? It is? Geez, that feels amazing,” de Minaur said.

“There’s a lot of stress going on the last couple of weeks – you just made

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