ATP Finals: preferential treatment for Novak Djokovic?
The fact that Novak Djokovic is the only player to benefit from his run in Wimbledon is met with incomprehension by some colleagues.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Nov 02, 2022, 08:46 am
Let's just assume that Novak Djokovic plays as usual in Paris-Bercy. And so with the tournament victory a Häusl will move on. Then Djokovic would have collected 3,810 points in the race, which would also guarantee him a place at the ATP Finals in Turin over the annual ranking. However, if the six-time Paris champion does not storm to the title for any reason - perhaps because he is bored with his own superiority - Djokovic could end up outside the top eight of the annual rankings.
And of course he will still come to the finals in northern Italy.
Because in the case of Djokovic, the rule applies that a Grand Slam champion qualifies for the unofficial ATP World Championship if he finishes in the top 20 in the race. Novak Djokovic did that a long time ago. Although he had to miss four ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and two majors, although it was his own fault.
Norrie would be in the mix
Now the fact, which has been known for months, that the Grand Slam tournament that Djokovic won, namely Wimbledon, did not pay out any ATP points, is causing displeasure among some colleagues. Especially with Cameron Norrie, who was inferior to Djokovic in the semifinals at the time. Norrie finds it "a bit odd" that his conqueror is the only player who has seen Wimbledon as worth anything other than the prize money and honor. In fact, the Brit with 760 points for the semi-finals in London would be in the mix for the places in Turin.
The same applies to Nick Kyrgios, who would have taken 1,200 points with him for his final participation. And then his tournament schedule in the fall would have been a little different. Kyrgios' manager has now announced from Australia that Djokovic should definitely be there in Turin. But that the round of his protégé Kyrgios should also have been taken into account.
Kyrgios coming to Turin?
Kyrgios himself apparently sees it that way too. To a tweet from ATP, according to which he had definitely qualified for Turin with partner Thanasi Kokkinakis, he only replied: "That should have been the case in singles." In this respect, it will be exciting to see whether Kyrgios is only due to the pair run at the end of the season arrives.