Novak Djokovic's bid for a record 19th appearance at the ATP Finals suffered a significant setback after a surprise loss to Jan-Lennard Struff at the Swiss Indoors in Basel. The 39-year-old Serb, playing in the tournament for the first time since 2011, fell 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) – marking Struff's first victory in nine meetings against Djokovic.
Race to Turin implications
The defeat leaves Djokovic 11th in the ATP Finals qualification standings, outside the top 10 for the first time since 2018. The year's top eight performers earn spots at the season-ending event in Turin from 15-22 November. Rafael Jodar currently holds the final qualifying place in ninth, partly because world number one Jannik Sinner is injured and will not compete. Djokovic trails Jodar by 319 points but can close the gap at the Paris Masters in November.
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion and seven-time ATP Finals winner, has missed the past two editions due to injury. The last time he failed to qualify on merit was in 2017, when his season was disrupted by injury. He admitted he expected to feel "a little rusty" after his previous match against Ugo Humbert.
Other Basel results and rankings
Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, and Ben Shelton have already secured their places in Turin. Shelton also suffered an upset in Basel, losing 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-1) to Swiss wildcard Jerome Kym, ranked 222nd in the world. Meanwhile, Zverev clinched the year-end world number one ranking at the earliest possible opportunity.
