Turin next, or not? Novak Djokovic attends Belgrade Open after Maldives holiday

The legend previously indicated the Nitto ATP Finals was not a priority, but with his peers failing to bump him out of the race, will Nole end up playing?

From the Maldives and back to Belgrade. What’s next for Novak Djokovic?

While the 24-time major winner soaked up the views amid stunning weather in the Maldives, Nitto ATP Finals contenders Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev all failed to surpass him in the year-end race at the recent Rolex Paris Masters.

tunning weather in the Maldives, Nitto ATP Finals contenders Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev all failed to surpass him in the year-end race at the recent Rolex Paris Masters.

Djokovic’s vacation commencing with the Turin field yet to be determined would seem to be in line with an earlier comment that the 37-year-old was “done” prioritizing that event.

“Torino is not my goal at all, to be honest, I am not chasing ATP Finals, I am not chasing the rankings,” he said back in September after leading Serbia to a Davis Cup win over Greece.

“As far as I am concerned, I am done with those tournaments for my career. Whether I will play other tournaments this year or in the future, I can’t say right now.”

Djokovic, who triumphed over Jannik Sinner last November to clinch a record-breaking seventh ATP Finals crown, has played just one ATP event since the US Open. He finished runner-up to Sinner at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, before participating in the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Saudi Arabia.

It’s highly likely Djokovic will earn his way to the prestigious eight-man tournament in Italy given the current qualification scenarios. The all-time ATP leader in weeks as world No. 1 is yet to make a final decision on his participation.

Ruud and Rublev have sputtered toward the finish line, with the Norwegian losing six of his past seven matches and Rublev joining Ruud in going 0-2 across the final two Masters 1000 events of the season. De Minaur made a late push to overtake Rublev for No. 8 after returning from a hip injury in mid-October.

The muddled picture naturally brought humor out within the tennis community, including this meme of Djokovic ‘mathing’ while on holiday.

On Sunday, the Paris Olympics gold medalist was spotted at the Belgrade Open cheering on Hamad Medjedovic in his win over Brandon Nakashima. Djokovic has been an important mentor to the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals champion.