Novak Djokovic, desperate to enter the ATP Finals: He signs up for a tournament he has not played since 2011

Novak Djokovic has requested an invitation to participate in the ATP 500 Swiss Indoors in Basel, marking his first appearance at the tournament since 2011. The 24-time Grand Slam winner is seeking a spot at the ATP Finals, Nov. 15-20 in Turin.

The decision to include Basel in his calendar is striking, since Djokovic had declared after his early elimination in the Shanghai Masters 1000, that he planned to play only the Paris Masters 1000, scheduled for November 2 to 8, before the ATP Finals at the end of the season. The great performance of Rafa Jódar and Daniil Medvedev at the Shanghai Masters 1,000 has meant that Novak Djokovic has fallen a little further behind in this race due to being in Turin and desperately needs points.

The 39-year-old Serbian will arrive in Switzerland after an irregular Asian tour, where he won his seventh China Open title in Beijing, his 103rd title of his career, before suffering a surprising defeat in the second round of Shanghai against the Polish Hubert Hurkacz, a tournament he has won four times.

Basel will offer Djokovic the opportunity to try to solidify his bid for his 17th appearance at the ATP Finals. He is ranked 11th in the ATP Live Race to Turin and needs a top-nine finish as world number one Jannik Sinner is out for the rest of 2026 with a nagging knee injury. Zverev and Alcaraz are in, while the remaining six places will be played between Shelton, Cobolli, Medvedev, Tiafoe, Fils, Jodar, de Minaur and Djokovic.

For Djokovic it will be his fourth participation in Basel, after having lifted the trophy in 2009 by beating Roger Federer in the final. Felix Auger-Aliassime and the Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz will be their main rivals in the ATP 500 indoor hard court tournament, which takes place from October 26 to November 1.