18 and counting: Novak Djokovic qualifies for ATP Finals in Turn as he equals Roger Federer's record

Novak Djokovic continues to make history after qualifying for a record-equalling 18th time, only joint by Roger Federer in a hugely incredible achievement.

The 38-year-old first qualified for the event as a 20-year-old back in 2007, and since then has only missed the event twice, in 2017 and 2024. He holds the most singles titles, and if he competes will be looking for an unprecedented eighth title.

That is the big question: will he compete in Turin? He was forced to retire in his clash against Taylor Fritz in the Six Kings Slam due to injury, with him having skipped numerous events this year to keep his body fresh. He is confirmed to play in his home event in Athens, but the rest is a mystery for now. What is confirmed is that he has joined Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in qualifying for the ATP Finals.

A huge factor in Djokovic becoming the third player to qualify for Riyadh is his consistent Grand Slam form. While four major semi-finals may be seen to some players as a great return, this is the first year since 2017 where the Serbian has failed to reach a Grand Slam final. He was forced to retire in Melbourne against Zverev while Sinner and Alcaraz stood in his way in the other three events.

Aside from the majors, his Masters 1000 form has not been great. In his first four events, he suffered opening defeats in Indian Wells, Monte-Carlo and Madrid. He did make a run to the final in Miami but was pipped by the talented Jakub Mensik in two tiebreakers. This was his 60th Masters 1000 final, extending his own record. He did not compete in another one of these events until Shanghai, where he looked to be the big favourite for the title after all of his rivals were knocked out. However, he was not able to add to the four titles he previously won in Shanghai, losing in the semi-finals to the world number 204 Valentin Vacherot, who completed a magical triumph in China.

It is not all bad for Djokovic, who reached a huge milestone in the 250 event in Geneva. While many of the top players were ramping up their preparation by competing in the 1000 events, Djokovic took a different path and traversed to Switzerland for the Geneva Open, just his second final of 2025. He defeated Hubert Hurkacz in three sets to claim his 100th ATP title. He sits only behind Jimmy Connors and Federer in this list.

From 2007, there has been only one year where the 24-time Grand Slam champion has failed to qualify for the ATP Finals. He first won it at the second time of trying, overcoming Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets. He only made it out of the group phase once in the next three years, but what followed was four consecutive triumphs. He defeated Federer three times (including a walkover) and Rafael Nadal in 2013.

While this run was not continued, he still managed to extend it to six consecutive finals in events he had competed in, losing in 2016 to Andy Murray and 2018 to Alexander Zverev. He failed to make it out of the groups in 2019 for the first time in eight years before consecutive semi-finals were followed by two more triumphs in 2022 and 2023, with Casper Ruud and Sinner his victims.

That victory against Sinner was the last match he played in the prestigious event. Despite qualifying for 2024, he had ended his season due to injury and would not participate.