Has Novak Djokovic given biggest hint that he could play 2025 ATP Finals?
Novak Djokovic is on course to qualify for the 2025 ATP Finals and the tournament could represent his best chance to get the better of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and claim another “big title”.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner’s hopes of winning his first major since the 2023 US Open are over for another year after he was beaten in straight sets in the semi-final of the season-ending Slam at Flushing Meadows by Alcaraz.
It is the third consecutive major where Djokovic’s campaign was ended by either Alcaraz or Sinner as he lost against the latter in the semi-finals at both the French Open and Wimbledon while he retired with an injury from his last-four encounter against Alexander Zverev at this year’s Australian Open.
Last year, he was denied by Sinner in the Australian Open semi-final while Alcaraz defeated the Serbian in the Wimbledon final.
Djokovic, though, did beat Alcaraz in the Melbourne quarter-final at the start of this year while he also got the better of the 22-year-old in the gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The former world No 1 leads his head-to-head against Alcaraz 5-3 while Sinner is 6-4 ahead in their H2H rivalry, having won their last five matches.
With age no longer on his side, the 38-year-old admitted after his US Open exit that he will always be up against it in the best-of-five sets against the two dominant forces in men’s tennis.
“It will be very difficult for me in the future to overcome the hurdle of Sinner and Alcaraz in the best-of-five in the Grand Slams. I think I have a better chance [in] best of three, but best of five, it’s tough,” Djokovic said.
“I’m, you know, not giving up on Grand Slams in that regard. Having said that, I’m going to continue fighting and trying to, you know, trying to get to the. To the finals and fight for another trophy at least, but, you know, it’s going to be a very, very difficult task.”
Djokovic has climbed two places in the ATP Rankings Race To Turin and is odds-on to qualify for the season-ending tournament as he now sits in third place with Alcaraz and Sinner already secured of their places in the event.
The Serbian only needs another 1,000-odd points to reach the cut-off 5,395 points for qualification.
ATP Rankings Race
1. Carlos Alcaraz – 9,840 (Q)
2. Jannik Sinner – 7,950 (Q)
3. Novak Djokovic – 4,180
4. Alexander Zverev – 4,130
5. Ben Shelton – 3,710
Of course, he also qualified for the ATP Finals last year and decided not to defend his title as he skipped the event, but he could change his tune this year as it could be his best chance of beating his two younger rivals, Sinner and Alcaraz.
The season-ending tournament is best-of-three-sets and it is only a week-long event, compared to two weeks at Grand Slams.
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Djokovic beat Sinner in the final of the 2023 ATP Finals to win a record seventh title while he also beat Alcaraz in the semi-final.
“That’s a sentiment definitely after the Grand Slam season this year that, you know, not to say that I will skip Grand Slams. I mean, I still want to play Grand Slams, Grand Slam season, full Grand Slam season next year,” the tennis legend said.
“Well, let’s see whether that’s going to happen or not. But, you know, because Slams are Slams, you know, they are just different from any other tournament. They are the pillars of our sport, the most important tournaments we have.
“But yeah, I do fancy my chances a bit more in best of three, you know, I guess one-week tournaments or the Masters tournaments where you have almost two weeks with quite a few days between matches. So, you know, that could, that could serve me better in the matchups against them.”
