“I would like to”- That is what Novak Djokovic said when asked if he wanted to play in Turin after his early-round exit in Shanghai. The loss to Hubert Hurkacz seemingly made it very difficult for the Serb to qualify, given that he had only the Paris Masters left on his schedule to earn the required number of points. However, when the 24-time Major champion sets his mind to something, he has always been willing to take the extra step, and Djokovic’s recent scheduling decision reflects that mindset.

Djokovic is all set to play at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, with the Serb accepting a wildcard for the competition. This would be the Serb’s fourth appearance at the event, having last played it in 2011, ending a 15-year absence from the event. He has won the title here once, back in 2009, when he beat home favorite Roger Federer in the final. The Serb was slated to play the exhibition event in Riyadh from October 21 to 24, but with the event getting postponed, the window opened up in the former World No. 1’s schedule.

While the postponement of the exhibition plays a part in Djokovic’s decision, the move to play a warm-up event before the Paris Masters is something the Serb has rarely done over the last decade or so. From 2012 to 2019, his schedule had him go directly from Shanghai to Paris, except in 2017, when he ended his season early. He did play the Vienna Open in 2020 and a few indoor events in Tel Aviv and Astana in 2022, which were mainly added to the calendar due to the pandemic in China.

Djokovic’s decision shows his determination to qualify for the ATP Finals. With 2840 points, the Serb is 11th in the ATP race rankings. He is just 40 points behind Alex de Minaur, who’s in 10th, and a little over 100 points behind the 9th-placed Rafael Jodar. However, having reached the semifinals in Shanghai, Jodar will have the advantage of widening the gap with Djokovic, should he win his semifinal, or even go all the way to win the title.

Djokovic is not the only star opting to play a warm-up event before the final Masters 1000 event in Paris this year. In an interesting move, Carlos Alcaraz accepted a wildcard in Vienna, with the Spaniard set to play at the tournament after five years. While Djokovic’s decision has come from the perspective of qualifying for the ATP Finals, Alcaraz’s decision is based on sharpening his edges against the competition before Paris and Turin.

As for Djokovic, the Serb will have his hands full with the draw in Basel, which has some of the most promising young stars on the Tour.

Novak Djokovic Faces the Young Stars in Basel

Ben Shelton, Arthur Fils, and Rafael Jodar- the Basel draw has some of the best that the young generation of ATP has to offer, which will keep Djokovic’s hands full. The Serb has yet to play either Jodar or Fils, and he has only played Shelton once, three years ago at the 2023 US Open. Should the Serb face Jodar, the match will carry the added pressure of the Race, as the Spaniard is one of the Serb’s closest competitors.

Not to mention, the event is all set to mark home favorite Stan Wawrinka’s farewell, as the three-time Major champion will retire from the sport after the competition. Should he and Djokovic meet in the draw, that will make for a great spectacle, given the historic contests the two have shared on the court, including one in Basel back in 2009, where the Serb won a three-set contest on his way to the title.

Having said all that, Djokovic is still capable of working his way through a draw, as he showed in Beijing, where he won against the likes of Alexander Zverev and dominated Daniil Medvedev before the Russian was defaulted. The Serb has only 19 match wins so far this season, and even if he wins the titles in Basel and Paris, he would have added only 10 more wins to his tally and would possibly qualify for Turin with 29 match wins or fewer. The usual threshold is somewhere between 35 and 45 matches, but if the Serb pulls it off, his approach of placing greater importance on Slams and Masters events will be vindicated.