Novak Djokovic withdrew from the ATP Finals, ending his 2024 season.
Novak Djokovic officially finished his season by withdrawing from the ATP Finals, despite finishing sixth in the fight to qualify.
Only the eight players with the most ranking points in a particular season can compete in Turin. And Djokovic’s withdrawal meant that the last berths were formally confirmed.
ATP officials can breathe a sigh of relief, as they were reportedly intending to postpone the draw and pre-event festivities until all eight players had confirmed their participation in the tournament.
Djokovic recently skipped the Paris Masters, jeopardising his prospects of qualifying for the ATP Finals.
However, no other player was able to pass him in the race since they failed to go deep and collect enough ranking points, securing his berth in the year-end championships.
Coming into this week’s ATP 250 events in Metz and Belgrade, three players – Casper Ruud, Alex De Minaur, and Andrey Rublev – were competing for two additional slots.
De Minaur arrived in Belgrade, while Ruud and Rublev traveled to Metz in hopes of accumulating enough points to go to Turin.
The finals of both events were held on Saturday, therefore the whole ATP Finals lineup may not have been known until then. But Djokovic did everyone a favor on Tuesday by announcing that he would not defend his championship in Turin next week.
It’s a great honour to have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin,” he wrote. “I was looking forward to being there, but owing to an ongoing injury, I will not be playing next week.
“I apologize to anyone who planned to see me. I wish all of the players a successful event. “See you soon!”
Because there were only three other players in competition, and Djokovic’s withdrawal left three spaces open, Ruud, De Minaur, and Rublev all qualified, and the lineup was complete.
It arrived at the ideal time. The formal draw ceremony and pre-tournament photoshoot will take place on Thursday.
However, according to Marca, the ATP intended to postpone the draw if all eight players had not been verified. With the ATP Finals commencing on Sunday, they would have had little time to establish the groupings and schedule the matches, and a last-minute delay would not have looked good.
Following Djokovic’s withdrawal, De Minaur left Belgrade confident that his berth in the season-ending tournament was guaranteed. Rublev continued in Metz and won his first match, but withdrew due to an injury.
There was talk that Ruud would skip Metz after clinching his spot, but he arrived in France on Wednesday morning before of his first encounter.
Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Taylor Fritz have already arrived in Turin and begun practicing at the Inalpi Arena ahead of the ATP Finals.
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