Alex de Minaur did not realise he had qualified for the ATP Finals until he was informed during an interview with Tennis Channel.
The Aussie booked his place at the year-end tournament following his victory over Karen Khachanov at the Paris Masters.
Reflecting on the surprise news, he said: “I had no idea. I mean, it was the best news I’ve got in a long, long time.
“Of course, there’s so much chatter the last three or four weeks of the year, that’s what everyone’s talking about.
“So there’s a lot of stress, and I did my best not to pay attention as much as I could. But yeah, I had no idea that securing that win was enough.
“So yeah, it was a lot of relief, and I’m very, very happy with that.”