Novak Djokovic hopes to soon join the three tennis players who have already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, which are Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev. The Italian is the leader of the Race with 10,330 points, 3,620 more than the Spaniard and 4,115 more than the German.
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Daniil Medvedev and Taylor Fritz are in a rather positive situation, among the players still in the fight. The Russian and the American occupy the 4th and 5th position respectively with 4820 and 4290 points. The Serbian champion remains in 6th place, having made important steps forward thanks to the final reached at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on October 13th.
Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev and Alex de Minaur disappointed expectations and did not take advantage of them in the best way between Stockholm and Antwerp. The Norwegian and the Russian stopped in the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Nordic Open, thus winning a match.
Ruud and Rublev are respectively at 3855 and 3630 points. The first excluded from the list, for the moment, remains Alex De Minaur. The Australian, struggling with some physical problems in recent weeks, surrendered to Hugo Gaston in the quarterfinals of the European Open.
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They have no intention of giving up on Tommy Paul and Grigor Dimitrov, finalists at the Stockholm tournament. The American won the title by beating the Bulgarian in the Race and moved to 495 points from Rublev, who would currently be the last qualifier.
Difficult qualification for Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frances Tiafoe, out in the quarterfinals in Antwerp and Almaty. Lorenzo Musetti remains 16th. This week, Rublev, Ruud and Tsitsipas will play in Basel, while Paul, Dimitrov and de Minaur will play in Vienna.
Obviously, about Sinner, the successes obtained at the Australian Open, the ATPMasters 1000 in Miami, Cincinnati and Shanghai and the US Open have an impact. This leaves five valid tickets for access to the Masters Tournament.
Novak Djokovic pays homage to (and excites) Rafael Nadal
At the end of the 3rd place match won at The Six Kings Slam, Djokovic thrilled the crowd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, addressing Rafael Nadal directly. The Spaniard will say goodbye to tennis next November at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga and, today, he had the chance to face his historic rival for the last time in his career.
The Serbian champion dedicated a beautiful thought to him after the match, paying homage to him for everything he has done for the world of sport. Djokovic started from the first challenge played at Roland Garros way back in 2006 and thanked the 22-time Slam winner.
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"I want to thank whoever organized this event, it was an amazing experience. Thank you for inviting us, we played in front of a great crowd. Thank you for the respect and support you gave us. Rafa, I don't know where to start. I go back to the first match I played against you in Paris in 2006. Who would have said that after 20 years we would still be here. You are an incredible athlete and person, I respect you a lot.
I hope that one day we will have the possibility and the chance to go to the beach and have a nice drink to reflect on life and talk about other things, because it has been a very tough journey. I could talk all night. It has been an honor and a pleasure to share the court with you, it is an emotional moment. We have played so many matches over the years. Thank you not only from me, but from the entire tennis world. Everyone has always appreciated you," he said.
Nadal listened attentively to Djokovic's words, showing great emotion.
