Andy Roddick shares his theory on what Novak Djokovic told Felix Auger-Aliassime before going to Athens

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Novak Djokovic played a starring role in the fight for the eighth spot at the ATP Finals.

Heading into the final week of the year, Felix Auger-Aliassime was in pole position to qualify for Turin.

Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti was the only man who could stop him, but he needed to win the Hellenic Championship in Greece to do so.

A few wins at the Moselle Open in Metz would have guaranteed Auger-Aliassime’s place, but he decided to withdraw from the event, leaving his qualification in the hands of his Italian rival.

In the end, both players qualified, as Djokovic withdrew from the ATP Finals after beating Musetti in the Hellenic Championship showpiece match.

Reacting to the developments in the ‘Race to Turin’, Andy Roddick has shared a theory about what he thinks Djokovic may have said to Auger-Aliassime before he began the tournament in Athens.

Andy Roddick thinks Felix Auger-Aliassime may have had a ‘hint’ that Novak Djokovic was going to withdraw

During the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick’, the American had this to say about the Djokovic/Musetti/Auger-Aliassime saga.

“He’s not going to say publicly that he’s pulling out of Turin and then play Athens, because people are going to go ‘That’s B———’,” said Roddick.

“He wins Athens, and then tells Musetti [that he’s withdrawing from ATP Finals], they’re like ‘Well, they moved the schedule for you’. 

“Sounds like a them-problem, sounds like they shouldn’t be starting a day after the ATP Finals. 

“My guess is that if I’m him and this is pure speculation, I know that if I‘m pulling out, that FAA [Felix Auger-Aliassime] is definitely in. I’m guessing that FAA might have had a hint that he was good to go if Novak knew anywhere along the lines.

“They will never admit it.

“But this is complete conspiracy.”

Roddick seems to be suggesting that Djokovic told Auger-Aliassime he was planning to withdraw from the ATP Finals in advance.

Therefore, the Canadian didn’t expend any unnecessary energy playing at the Moselle Open in Metz, as he would qualify for the tour finals, regardless of how Musetti performed in Athens.

Weighing in with his thoughts, highly-regarded journalist Jon Wertheim claimed that the ‘will he, won’t he’ nature of Djokovic’s ATP Finals participation reflected badly upon the event.

“It’s not great for the credibility of your great temple event,” he said.

“There were a lot of questions about Novak [Djokovic]; it was awesome that he won his 101st title…

“But it all had this strange shroud of ‘What does this mean for Turin?”

In the end, both Musetti and Auger-Aliassime qualified, although things haven’t exactly gone to plan for either player in Turin so far…

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Lorenzo Musetti lost their opening matches at the ATP Finals

After the first round of matches, Auger-Aliassime and Musetti sat bottom of their respective ATP Finals groups.

Jimmy Connors Group

Bjorn Borg Group

Musetti lost to Taylor Fritz, and Auger-Aliassime lost to Jannik Sinner, leaving their semifinal hopes hanging by a thread.

To have any realistic chance of advancing, they’ll need to win their next match in Turin.

• Lorenzo Musetti (0-1) vs Alex de Minaur (0-1)
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (0-1) vs Ben Shelton (0-1)

Both players will have a chance to jump up to at least third place with a win on matchday two.

Taking on Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton, Musetti and Auger-Aliassime will be confident of challenging for a rare win at the tour finals.

Just one of the four players who sit outside the qualification spots has won a match at the ATP Finals in their careers to date, although that will soon change.

When Musetti plays De Minaur on Tuesday, November 11, someone will pick up their first career win at the ATP Finals.

Then, on Wednesday, November 12, Shelton will have a chance to win his first match at the event when he takes on Auger-Aliassime.