Kiwi doubles ace Michael Venus has sealed a spot in the end-of-year ATP World Tour Finals by progressing to the Paris Masters quarter-finals.
Venus and Aussie partner John Peers qualified for the elite eight-strong field in London this month with a 6-4 7-6(4) victory over American Austin Krajicek and Croatian Franko Skugor.
Their closest rivals for the London tournament - Brits Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski - lost their second-round clash to fall out of contention.
Venus is still not guaranteed to play the tour finals - he is booked to return to New Zealand from Paris next week and can only change his two-week COVID-19 quarantine to December 20 at the earliest, spending Christmas apart from pregnant wife Sally and two-year-old daughter Lila.
"We have tried to find any avenue that's possible and have applied for the emergency sports, so just waiting to hear on that," he says. "Hopefully, something can come through and we will be to finish the year by playing in London."
If he does make it to London, Venus will contest his fourth straight finals, after previous appearances with American Ryan Harrison and South African Raven Klaasen.
He and Klaasen finished runners-up last year, losing in straight sets to Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
"It's a great achievement, given the quality of the players out there," says Venus. "I've been lucky to have some great partners over the years and I am just really excited that we have been able to finish the year on a high.
"Hopefully, we can win a few more matches here."
Last month, Venus and Peers claimed their third title this year in Antwerp, following earlier success in Hamburg and Duabi.
They now face Canadian Felix Augur Alliassime and Pole Hubert Hurkacz in the Paris quarter-finals.
