“Djokovic will be in Turin”: Italian Federation President sparks excitement ahead of ATP Finals

The President of the Italian Tennis Federation (FITP), Angelo Binaghi, confirmed the presence of Novak Djokovic at the ATP Finals in Turin. The 24-time Grand Slam champion had cast doubt on his participation in Turin a couple of weeks ago, saying it was a decision he would make in the coming days.

Finally, the former World No. 1 will return to the ATP Finals for his 17th participation. Back in 2024, he opted to skip the tournament—despite being the two-time defending champion. The Serb has won the title seven times—in addition to reaching two other finals—making him the player with the most victories and titles in the tournament. “We have confirmation that Djokovic will be in Turin,” Binaghi stated in a conversation with UbiTennis.

Djokovic, meanwhile, will have the opportunity to prepare this week with his participation in the ATP 250 Athens Open, which recently changed location from Belgrade. The tournament is owned by the Djokovic family, and they decided to change the venue after Novak moved from Serbia to Greece amid conflicts with authorities in his country. The World No. 5 will debut this Tuesday against Chile's Alejandro Tabilo, against whom he has an 0-2 record.

While Binaghi confirmed Djokovic's presence, he asserted that other important issues will steal the attention, especially this year in Turin: the battle for the World No. 1 spot remains alive between Jannik Sinner—who reclaimed the top spot this week—and Carlos Alcaraz.

Considering that Sinner cannot earn points as an undefeated defending champion, Alcaraz would need two victories to secure the top ranking, while Sinner can only secure it by repeating the undefeated title and hoping for an early elimination of his rival.

Binaghi added: “The ATP Finals 2025 will be decisive in determining who will be the world number one at the end of the year. It will be an unmissable opportunity for Italian sport. For the second consecutive year, we have players qualified in all four Finals tournaments. We managed to create 700 more seats for each session, and this year too we will break new attendance records.”

On another note, Italians are hoping for the potential qualification of a second Italian to join Sinner: World No. 9 Lorenzo Musetti, who still keeps his hopes alive after confirming his presence at the Athens Open this week following a wild card.

Binaghi noted: “Musetti's qualification would be something extraordinary. Lorenzo deserves to be in the top eight, and he already deserved it in 2024. The defeat in Paris? Sonego is a great professional and acted as such. No one ever thought of a fix or any favoritism,” declares the President of the FITP on the sprint for the last available spot for the Finals.

Musetti—who fell to Sonego in the first round of the Paris Masters—was subsequently surpassed in the Race by Felix Auger-Aliassime, who reached 8th place after making his second Masters 1000 final. The Canadian is ahead by 160 points, so Musetti can only qualify if he wins the title in Athens.

Binaghi also stated that he maintains his hopes for Italy to have a great performance in the Davis Cup Finals in two weeks. The Europeans are the two-time defending champions but will be without their biggest star, Jannik Sinner.

“We have a great team even without Jannik (Sinner). It is a team that deserves to win the Davis Cup, with players that Italian tennis has rarely had,” Binaghi confirmed.

The team will be led precisely by Musetti, who will be joined by Flavio Cobolli (No. 22), Matteo Berrettini (No. 59), and the doubles specialists Simone Bolelli (No. 14) and Andrea Vavassori (No. 15).