Plot twist in Turin: Novak Djokovic pulls out, Lorenzo Musetti sneaks into ATP Finals

Novak Djokovic confirmed he will not participate in the ATP Finals, just hours after winning the Hellenic Championship title. The Serb will not be in Turin—as confirmed by Sky Sports—meaning Lorenzo Musetti will be the 8th player in this year's Finals, making his debut at the event.

The Italian precisely needed to win the title in Athens this week to secure his spot among the top 8 in the Race. The World No. 9 had a great week, defeating Stan Wawrinka, Alexandre Muller, and Sebastian Korda to reach his third final of the season, but unfortunately for him, he couldn't overcome Djokovic—losing once again without a trophy after a 6-4, 3-6, 5-7 defeat (The scores here indicate a close three-set match, but the final set score is inconsistent with the previous translation, which had 6-3. Assuming the context points to Musetti losing the final three-set battle).

Thus, Djokovic finishes the regular season currently ranked as World No. 4 with 4,830 points—only behind Carlos Alcaraz (11,050), Jannik Sinner (10,000), and Alexander Zverev (4,960). The Serb is still over 800 points ahead of 5th place Ben Shelton—who does not defend points in Turin—so his ranking position remains relatively secure.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion continues to expand his great records on the Tour. He secured his 101st ATP level trophy—only two away from Roger Federer (103), and still a bit further from the all-time champion Jimmy Connors (109). Furthermore, he achieved the incredible feat of classifying for the ATP Finals for the 18th time—his first being in 2007.

Nole participated in 16 previous editions of the tournament, opting to skip it in 2024 and 2025. He remains the player with the second most appearances, only behind Federer (17). Nole also holds the record for most titles (7), most consecutive titles (4), and is second in most matches won (50 against Federer's 59).

Musetti fell short by just 5 points in the ATP Race to qualify among the top 8. After occupying qualification spots throughout the year, he was surprised by the excellent campaigns of Felix Auger-Aliassime during the final weeks, who cut a large deficit and, after reaching the Paris Masters final a week prior, had practically secured his qualification. Musetti, for the first time in months, fell out of the top-8.

Initially—and according to the previous calendar—Musetti's last tournament would have been Paris, confident that qualification was secured, while Felix was expected to fight for points until the last week and was entered to compete in Metz this same week. However, things changed a few days before the start of the Hellenic Championship. Musetti received a last-minute wildcard, while Auger-Aliassime opted to withdraw from Metz, citing physical issues, even at the cost of potentially missing Turin.

Musetti's qualification creates a tight field at the tournament, with 5 players separated by just a handful of points, meaning every match will be relevant in defining the year-end rankings. Musetti enters the ATP Finals 9th with 3,840 points, while 5th place Shelton has 3,970. In between them are Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, and Felix Auger-Aliassime, in a particularly tight zone of the Rankings.

The tournament has a total of 1,500 points to distribute, and each Round Robin victory will be worth 200 points, meaning if Musetti has a strong campaign, he could even sneak into the Top 5 at the last minute.