{"id":1213,"date":"2025-10-23T14:30:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T14:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1213"},"modified":"2025-10-23T14:30:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T14:30:30","slug":"what-novak-djokovic-and-pundits-have-said-about-the-serbs-atp-finals-participation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1213","title":{"rendered":"What Novak Djokovic and pundits have said about the Serb\u2019s ATP Finals participation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Novak Djokovic has qualified for the 2025 ATP Finals, but he is yet to confirm whether he will play at the season-ending showpiece in Turin.<\/p>\n<p>The eight players who accumulate the most ATP Ranking points in a season qualify for the ATP Finals, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Djokovic<\/a>\u2018s qualification was confirmed last week.<\/p>\n<p>The record seven-time ATP Finals champion was the third player to book their place at this year\u2019s championships after Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who have dominated the men\u2019s game in 2025.<\/p>\n<h2>Novak Djokovic\u2019s ATP Finals participation<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Tennis legend Novak Djokovic\u2019s participation at the ATP Finals, the fifth biggest event in men\u2019s tennis after the four Grand Slams, is uncertain<\/li>\n<li>Djokovic missed the 2024 edition despite qualifying, but the world No 5 has given a hint that suggests he may compete this time<\/li>\n<li>Former American ATP players Paul Annacone and Steve Johnson have assessed what Djokovic could gain from playing the ATP Finals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is the 18th time Djokovic has qualified for the ATP Finals \u2014 a record he now shares with his great former rival Roger Federer. If he plays this year, it would be his 17th appearance as he withdrew ahead of the 2024 ATP Finals.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s ATP Finals, which will be the fifth edition staged in Turin, will be held from November 9-16.<\/p>\n<h2>What has Djokovic said about playing the ATP Finals?<\/h2>\n<p>Djokovic retired after losing a marathon opening set in his third-place playoff match with Taylor Fritz at the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Riyadh last week.<\/p>\n<p>After that match, Djokovic suggested he would play two more tournaments in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow it\u2019s rest and really addressing some of the issues I have with my body,\u201d the 24-time Grand Slam winner said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen hopefully playing the last couple of tournaments of the season, let\u2019s see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The one tournament Djokovic has confirmed he will play is the inaugural ATP 250 in Athens, which will be staged from November 2-8.<\/p>\n<p>The 38-year-old Serbian has since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-2025-schedule-paris-masters-withdrawal\">withdrawn from next week\u2019s Paris Masters<\/a>, which leaves the ATP Finals as the only other event he could play in 2025.<\/p>\n<h2>Novak Djokovic News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/what-did-novak-djokovic-say-spark-come-out-and-say-it-comment-andy-roddick\"><strong>Novak Djokovic\u2019s \u2018monopoly\u2019 comment sparks \u2018speak the truth\u2019 reaction from Andy Roddick<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/why-novak-djokovic-retirement-will-be-bad-news-for-rivals-roger-federer-former-coach\"><strong>Roger Federer\u2019s ex-coach says Novak Djokovic\u2019s retirement will be \u2018bad news\u2019 for his rivals<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>What have pundits said about Djokovic\u2019s participation?<\/h2>\n<p>During a discussion on Tennis Channel, former American ATP stars Paul Annacone and Steve Johnson gave their verdict on Djokovic\u2019s ATP Finals participation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve Johnson, a former world No 21:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is somebody that is so meticulous about his schedule. I think all that matters is that Grand Slam 25, so if he feels as if playing this event will help get him there, maybe get an edge over one of these guys in getting a win over a Sinner or Alcaraz, then I think he should do it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like he might want to play this ATP Finals just to try and get a little bit of an edge, maybe see these guys (Alcaraz and Sinner) a little bit more, try and beat them in a two out of three match.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause we all know, beating them three out of five seems impossible. And I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s anybody on tour that can beat those guys back to back at a Friday and Sunday at a Gran Slam. So for Novak, maybe getting a win at the ATP Finals over one of those guys could prove great for his confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Annacone, a former world No 12, who coaches Taylor Fritz, having previously worked with Roger Federer and Pete Sampras:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, I think the thing that he has realised so well, and I think all the all-time [greats] do at the end of their career, is they get the macro picture, right? And Stevie said it so well, he\u2019s trying to figure out how to win number 25.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould he like to win this (the ATP Finals) again? Sure. But does it matter? Not really, when you look at what he\u2019s done. So, will that help him for next year? I would like him to play a few more matches before the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook, we know what he\u2019s done in Australia and we know how good he can be down there. Can be beat Alcaraz and Sinner back to back? The second question is, can he play seven three out of five set matches at that level? And at the letter stages. Those are the only two things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/how-much-prize-money-have-carlos-alcaraz-jannik-sinner-novak-djokovic-earned-in-2025\">Prize money earned by Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic, Zverev &amp; Fritz in 2025<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-atp-finals-2025-participation-will-he-play-pundits-verdict\">What Novak Djokovic and pundits have said about the Serb\u2019s ATP Finals participation<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/\">Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Novak Djokovic has qualified for the 2025 ATP Finals, but he is yet to confirm whether he will play at the season-ending showpiece in Turin. The eight players who accumulate the most ATP Ranking points in a season qualify for the ATP Finals, and Djokovic\u2018s qualification was confirmed last week. The record seven-time ATP Finals [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}