Novak Djokovic claims injury ruled him out of ATP Finals – but one big question remains
11/05/2024 10:51 AM
Novak Djokovic has finally confirmed he will not play at the ATP Finals in Turin next week, but did the seven-time champion have any intention of defending his title in Turin?
The Serbian won a record seventh ATP Finals after beating Jannik Sinner in last year’s final and will miss the showpiece ATP Tour event for only the second time since making his debut in 2007.
Djokovic's only previous absence came in 2017 after he cut short his season because of an elbow injury.
He last appeared on court at the lucrative Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia last month, where he lost to Sinner before beating Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic subsequently pulled out of last week's Paris Masters and, writing on Instagram, he said: "It's quite an honour to qualify for the ATP Finals in Turin.
"I was really looking forward to being there, but due to ongoing injury, I won't be playing next week. Apologies to those who were planning to see me. Wishing all the players a great tournament. See you soon!"
Djokovic withdrawal means he ends his season having won only one title – a long-coveted Olympic gold medal in Paris – while he has contested just 11 tournaments.
Yet while Djokovic cited injury as the reason for his withdrawal from the ATP Finals, one big question remains unanswered.
The 24-time Grand Slam-winning legend has earned the right to pick and choose the tournaments he enters at this stage of his career and he made it clear many weeks ago that he is not motivated by trying to defend his ATP Finals title next week when he made these comments back in September.
"Torino is not my goal at all, to be honest, I am not chasing ATP Finals, I am not chasing the rankings," said Djokovic after playing for Serbia in the Davis Cup.
"As far as I am concerned, I am done with those tournaments for my career. Whether I will play in other tournaments this year or in the future, I can't say right now."My main priorities are playing for the national team and slams, everything else is less important."
Those comments appeared to confirm he would not be pushing to qualify for the ATP Finals, but Djokovic then made the trip to China to play in the Shanghai Masters.
A run to the final of that tournament, where he lost against Jannik Sinner, confirmed he is still a major threat to anyone in the men’s game when he is on court.
The points he collected in Shanghai also boosted his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals and he was set to make the cut for Turin.
His run to the Australian Open semi-final and Wimbledon final contributed to the bulk of his ranking points this year and he is currently in sixth place in the ATP’s Race to Turin, with the top eight players qualifying for the lucrative end-of-year-finals.
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As a result of his refusal to confirm whether he would play at the ATP Finals, Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev and Alex De Minaur all entered tournaments this week trying to collect ranking points before the cut-off date for ATP Finals qualification this Sunday night.
Yet they did so amid some confusion over how many places are up for grabs in Turin, with Djokovic declining to confirm the rumours that he will not play.
If he was true to his comments and had no intention of playing at the ATP Finals, it could be seen as a little disrespectful to the players chasing ranking points this week that he is keeping his decision to himself.
Yet the statement he released announcing his absence from the Turin tournament suggests he was keen to play in the ATP Finals after all, even though his movements over the last couple of weeks have done little to suggest that was a realistic prospect.
Djokovic spent last week sunning himself on a beach in the Maldives and with no footage emerging of him back on a practice court, it always seemed highly unlikely his season was over and with former world No 1 Andy Roddick was among those convinced his withdrawal from the ATP Finals was inevitable.
“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,” said Roddick on the Tennis Channel live podcast.
“You don’t often go from Maldives to year-end finals, that would be a new point of origin in the finals playing process.
“But listen, 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.
“I also was the dummy who thought three weeks wasn’t enough time for him to play in Wimbledon and what does he do? Go and play the final.
“So nothing would surprise me, but I bet you lunch that he won’t turn up in Turin.”
Djokovic came under fire for pulling out of tournaments after the draw was made during the period when he was not allowed to travel due to his stance on Covid vaccines and many will suggest this delay in withdrawing from another big tournament could be avoided.
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