Novak Djokovic will not defend his title won last year in Paris-Bercy, having decided to miss the last Masters 1000 of the season. Although the Serbian champion has always had a great feeling with this tournament (which he won 6 times during his career), his priorities have changed and his schedule is much reduced compared to a few years ago.
Already last month, the 24-time Grand Slam champion had anticipated that he did not know what his plans would be after the ‘Six Kings Slam’ in Saudi Arabia. The former world number 1 had not ruled out the possibility of closing his season early, despite being in the race for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
Djokovic© Djokovic Facebook/Fair Use
Thanks to his final in the Shanghai Masters 1000, the 37-year-old from Belgrade would qualify for the ATP Finals today. His choice to skip the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 complicates his situation, especially if players like Alex de Minaur or Tommy Paul should achieve good results in the upcoming tournaments.
At this point in his career, Novak could skip the ATP Finals and recharge for next season. In 2025, Djokovic will have to push himself to win his 25th Major title before age becomes too heavy a burden (Nole will be 38 years old in 2025). It is a pity that the former world number 1 will not participate in the Masters 1000 of Paris-Bercy, especially since it will be the last edition in the iconic Bercy arena before moving from 2025.
A tough choice
Interviewed by Eurosport before the start of the tournament, Cedric Pioline – director of the last Masters 1000 of the year – opened up on Nole’s decision to skip the event: “He is the defending champion but he has 37 years old if I am not mistaken. He has a physically complicated year since he was still operated on the meniscus just before Wimbledon. He won the Olympic Games, it’s his only title but that was the goal, so goal fulfilled. I think he has reached a stage in his career where he is managing his schedule as his body tells him to.”
One of the main challenges for Novak at this point of his career is certainly to keep his motivations high despite completing the puzzle. In a way, the triumph at the Paris Olympics this summer – which allowed him to complete the puzzle – may have also accelerated his downward parable.
Djokovic© Djokovic Facebook/Fair Use
Winning the gold medal for his country was perhaps the last big piece missing in Djokovic’s career, who had tried unsuccessfully to achieve this goal in previous editions of the Games. In Paris – on a surface not ideal for his style of play – Novak played an almost perfect tournament defeating Rafa Nadal in the second round, Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, Lorenzo Musetti in the semi-final and Carlos Alcaraz in a truly spectacular final.
That triumph has somewhat emptied the Serbian legend, who missed the Masters 1000 in Montreal and Cincinnati and was eliminated in the first week at the US Open. The legend from Belgrade returned in good shape at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, where he reached the final only losing to current world number 1 Jannik Sinner. Novak has failed – at least for the moment – to win the 100th title of his amazing career.
Roddick on Nole’s schedule
In the latest edition of his podcast, former ATP ace and top analyst Andy Roddick also commented on Djokovic’s approach towards the Masters 1000 and the ATP Finals: “The other thing, talking about being 10th in the Race to Turin, Novak has said that he’s not playing Turin.
He said he has no interest in playing Turin. Now, he can always change his mind but simply, I’m not great at math but if someone ahead of you is not playing, then that means you’re in ninth. That makes sense. I mean Novak has said that in so many words and we don’t want this to take the focus away from Tommy Paul, but Novak is going to pick and choose his spots now.”
Novak Djokovic, Six Kings Slam 2024© Stream screenshot
The American continued: “He’s going to try to juggle the schedule, where he gets enough matches before Majors but really, my interpretation of how Novak is talking is that he doesn’t care about rankings anymore. He knows what he’s been, can’t take away the number one ranking forever. He’s had it more weeks than anyone. This is how the next phase of his career is going to go, where he picks and chooses his spots, doesn’t care about Paris, isn’t going to play Turin.”