In his surprise return to the ATP 500 event in Basel this year, Novak Djokovic could not quite produce the run he would have hoped for, as he fell to Jan-Lennard Struff in his second match of the tournament.
Although it was a tightly contested encounter, with all three sets reaching the 5-5 mark, Djokovic eventually lost after making some uncharacteristic errors in the final-set tiebreak, handing Struff his first-ever victory against him in their ninth meeting.
At this stage of his career, Djokovic is far removed from needing results at ATP 500 tournaments. However, he has consistently stated that, regardless of his age, he always plays to win. More importantly, this defeat has dented his hopes of achieving something he was particularly keen on when returning to Basel: securing his place at the ATP Finals in Turin in just over two weeks.
Djokovic entered Basel ranked 12th in the Race to Turin, an event for which only the top eight players qualify. This is a significant change from previous years, when the Serbian would typically have secured his qualification by this stage of the season, even if he subsequently chose not to participate, as he did in each of the past two years. The Serbian needed a deep run in Basel to strengthen his position and avoid having to rely entirely on the Paris Masters to secure qualification.
However, following this defeat, Djokovic will now have to do precisely that. Given the current landscape of the live rankings, he will need a deep run in Paris to put himself in a strong position to qualify. At the time of writing, Djokovic sits 11th in the Race to Turin, with Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton already having secured their places.
#djokovic #turin #struff #serbian
Although it was a tightly contested encounter, with all three sets reaching the 5-5 mark, Djokovic eventually lost after making some uncharacteristic errors in the final-set tiebreak, handing Struff his first-ever victory against him in their ninth meeting.
At this stage of his career, Djokovic is far removed from needing results at ATP 500 tournaments. However, he has consistently stated that, regardless of his age, he always plays to win. More importantly, this defeat has dented his hopes of achieving something he was particularly keen on when returning to Basel: securing his place at the ATP Finals in Turin in just over two weeks.
Djokovic entered Basel ranked 12th in the Race to Turin, an event for which only the top eight players qualify. This is a significant change from previous years, when the Serbian would typically have secured his qualification by this stage of the season, even if he subsequently chose not to participate, as he did in each of the past two years. The Serbian needed a deep run in Basel to strengthen his position and avoid having to rely entirely on the Paris Masters to secure qualification.
However, following this defeat, Djokovic will now have to do precisely that. Given the current landscape of the live rankings, he will need a deep run in Paris to put himself in a strong position to qualify. At the time of writing, Djokovic sits 11th in the Race to Turin, with Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton already having secured their places.
#djokovic #turin #struff #serbian
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