Why Novak Djokovic should pull out of the ATP Finals and prepare for the 2025 season
Novak Djokovic's 2024 season could well be over. The Serbian superstar endured a fairly poor season on the ATP circuit as he went trophyless throughout the year for the first time since 2006. However, the 37-year-old won the Olympic gold medal in Paris he desperately desired.
Now, with the ATP Finals coming up, Djokovic has yet to announce his participation at the event. He is the defending champion at the event, having won the ATP Finals in 2023 and could well qualify for the tournament this year despite skipping the majority of Masters events.
However, with less than a week to go before the ATP Finals and the Serbian yet to confirm his availability, it looks more and more likely that Djokovic has already played the last match of his season. In hindsight, this decision could work in favour of the Serbian who can completely recover from his knee injury and come back fresh for the 2025 season.
Novak Djokovic is focused on Grand Slam tournaments in the later stages of his career
Novak Djokovic has announced that he wants to focus more on the Grand Slam events than the Master 1000 tournaments. The Serbian superstar who has achieved everything in the game has his eyes set on a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, that will elevate him as the greatest tennis player of all time.
Currently, Djokovic is tied with Margaret Court on 24 Grand Slam titles to his name. While no man in the history of tennis has even won 24, the Serbian will be keen to add one more Major to his name to move to the summit of the tennis mountain.
Speaking to the media after his Davis Cup outing in September, Djokovic said he is not chasing a spot in the ATP Finals.
“Torino is not my goal at all. To be honest, I am not chasing ATP Finals, I am not chasing the rankings. As far as I am concerned, I am done with those tournaments for my career. My main priorities are playing for the national team and Slams, everything else is less important," Novak Djokovic said.
Now, despite skipping most of the Masters events, Novak Djokovic finds himself in a place where he is all but certain to qualify for the ATP Finals. However, with his eyes set on the bigger prize, it could be a wise decision by the Serbian to skip the year-end ATP Final and get ready for the Australian Open in early January, in a bid to win his 25th Major honor.
Novak Djokovic's qualification scenario for the ATP Finals 2024
Despite skipping the majority of Masters events this year, Novak Djokovic is all but set to qualify for the ATP Finals in Turin. Since his early exit from the US Open, the Serbian has only played at the Shanghai Masters, losing to Jannik Sinner in the final. The 37-year-old decided to skip the China Open and the Paris Masters but still finds himself in the race to qualify for the ATP Finals due to results elsewhere.
Djokovic is currently sixth in the race for Turin with Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, and Taylor Fritz all having qualified for the event. The Serbian is also just five points short of an automatic qualification spot.
Currently, Rublev is in ninth place and will replace Djokovic if the Serbian decides to opt out of the ATP Finals. Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick feels that Djokovic will not play in Turin and his 2024 season is already over. He said on his podcast:
“He said three weeks ago he doesn’t think he is going to play year-end finals again, so my opinion naturally is that I don’t think he is ever going to play year-end finals again. Novak is at the point of his career where he gets to play when he is motivated, he is not going to be interested in making a semi of any event. He wants to win slams, that’s it."
Novak Djokovic has enjoyed incredible success at the ATP Finals winning seven titles including the last two in 2022 and 2023. However, the Serbian has other goals now and has an aging body to look after. He suffered an injury setback midway through 2024 and required knee surgery. The 37-year-old would not want to risk any more major injuries but rather enjoy his time away from tennis before making a comeback in Melbourne at the Australian Open in 2025.