The ATP Finals or the Nitto ATP Finals, as the name suggests, is the season-ending ATP Tour championship in Turin, Italy. Novak Djokovic won the 2023 edition, owing to his otherworldly form. He was in a terrific position to win due to all his calendar wins last year. But will he be able to defend his title there this year?
Several factors are holding him back already and not playing the Miami Open might not be a smart move in this regard at the very least, even as Djokovic is prioritising other tournaments first. The move is a surprise to a massive extent as Novak Djokovic has won the Miami Open a record 6 times in his career, knowing the conditions extremely well.
Novak Djokovic skipped the Indian Wells and the Miami Open last year. These are two tournaments he has found tremendous success in. However, that didn’t affect his chances of qualifying for the Top 8 players who directly qualify for the ATP Finals. This is because he won 3 of the 4 Grand Slams last year i.e. the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open, and finished as the finalist in Wimbledon.
Djokovic nearly completed the ‘Calendar Slam’ last year, but Carlos Alcaraz stole away his Wimbledon title. He also won the Adelaide International 2023 to start the year after his travel ban was lifted.
Djokovic was so far ahead in points, that skipping two of the major ATP 1000 Masters Tours in the US i.e. the Sunshine Doubles, didn’t affect him from qualifying. To further advance his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals last year, Djokovic also won the Cincinnati Masters and the Paris Masters. Including his win in the finals in Turin, Djokovic won 7 titles last year.
However, things are different in 2024 and might turn out to be even more different later as the season progresses. Novak Djokovic has played just two tournaments so far, although both major ones, and did not win either of them. At the Australian Open, he failed to even reach the finals. He lost 1-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6 to Jannik Sinner in the semi-final.
The Indian Wells tournament turned out to be a bigger shock for the World No.1, where he lost to youngster Luca Nardi in the third round. He lost 4-6, 6-3, 3-6. This has caused some damage to his overall points.
Djokovic wasn’t able to defend his points from the Australian Open and fetched only 50 points from the Indian Wells. Things haven’t quite been a rollicking start for the 36-year-old Serbian. And it’s about to get only tougher from here.
Novak Djokovic could potentially be out of the race to Turin this year
In the Race to Turin, Novak Djokovic currently sits at the No.11 position with just 910 points to his name. It is not a very suitable one for a player of his caliber. The Nitto ATP Finals is the biggest event in the ATP calendar after all the Grand Slams and players constantly battle each other throughout the year to find a spot there. While Djokovic already lost two major events, his competition is now only getting tougher.
Things were different 12 months ago when Carlos Alcaraz was not a Wimbledon champion, Jannik Sinner was still finding his feet and inexperienced while Daniil Medvedev wasn’t in as good a form as Djokovic was.
This year, Sinner has already won the Australian Open and the Rotterdam Open, Alcaraz caught a small injury during the Rio Open but is back to winning the Indian Wells, and Medvedev has reached two finals out of three events he played i.e. Australian Open and Indian Wells. Djokovic might find it hard to stop them in the upcoming competitions this year as compared to the last.
More importantly, Rafael Nadal might be back during the clay season. Since the Spaniard has only availed himself to play in the top tournaments from here onwards, the French Open will be his top-shelf priority. Moreover, the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Banja Luka Open or the Sprska Open are where Nadal can shine. These are clay-court tournaments where Djokovic struggled to win even last year.
Not surprisingly, at the moment, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Carlos Alcaraz are the Top 3 players in the ‘Race to Turin’. Their Live Points are 2910, 2160, and 1510 points respectively. Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur, and Andrey Rublev follow in the 4th, 5th, and 6th positions respectively.
