“It’s rare to go from the Maldives to the Masters. » Andy Roddick knows what he’s talking about. The former world number 1 is referring to the last vacation taken by Novak Djokovic while the rest of the circuit was fighting at the Masters 1000 at Paris-Bercy. The Serbian is, for the moment, qualified for the Turin Masters, which brings together the eight best players in the world, but he has still not announced whether he will participate or not.
Three players waiting for Novak Djokovic
This has a significant impact at the ATP 250 in Metz. Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud should normally take part in the Moselle Open. If one of them were to win, he would overtake Novak Djokovic in the rankings and thus qualify for the masters tournament. Same case for Alex De Minaur, entered at the ATP 250 in Belgrade.
In Metz, Grigor Dimitrov is still registered but can no longer qualify. The Bulgarian, completely roasted during his quarter-final defeat in Paris against Karen Kachanov, has not yet withdrawn. The organizers must make up for everyone’s defections. If Novak Djokovic were to withdraw from the Turin Masters, Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev and Alex De Minaur would not have to play the ATP 250 to qualify.
Why can Djokovic skip tournaments?
From then on, the Serbian’s silence calls out as it weighs on the programming of tournaments, obliged to find replacements in the final draw to compensate for defections, in particular those linked to the Turin Masters. Novak Djokovic had already announced this year that his career “is over in certain tournaments”. This Masters, he has won it seven times, an absolute record. The 37-year-old could opt for some rest after a generally difficult season despite a final at Wimbledon and the gold medal at the Olympics, his latest goal.
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In fact, the best players in the world have the obligation to participate in the biggest tournaments in the world, namely the Grand Slams and the Masters 1000, if they have the sufficient ranking. Unless, like Novak Djokovic, the player is over 30 years old, has played more than twelve seasons on the circuit and has more than 600 matches. The Serb does what he wants, but he has earned this right.
