Novak Djokovic made a big decision about his ATP Finals participation last week.
Djokovic beat Lorenzo Musetti in the Athens final last week to win his 101st title, and was already in the draw for the ATP Finals.
However, there were still question marks over whether he would play in Turin, with Djokovic then withdrawing from the ATP Finals just one day before the event got underway.
This meant that Musetti, who has commented on Djokovic’s withdrawal, replaced him in the ATP Finals draw, and now former top 30 player Steve Johnson has commented on whether he thinks the 24-time Grand Slam champion left it too late.
Steve Johnson explains why Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal is ‘brutal’ for Lorenzo Musetti
Musetti needed to win the title in Athens to overtake Felix Auger-Aliassime and qualify for the ATP Finals, but Djokovic’s withdrawal meant that his whole week in the Greek capital did not matter anyway.
When speaking about the timing of Djokovic’s withdrawal on the Nothing Major podcast, both Jack Sock and Johnson defended him and claimed he had the right to make that decision.
However, Johnson made the point that due to the timing of Djokovic’s withdrawal, it meant that Musetti was unable to be part of the iconic pre-ATP Finals pictures and general festivities.
“Absolutely not,” Sock said defending Djokovic. “The tournaments are in place, the weeks are scheduled how they are.
“I think if they want to see a different outcome for that or a different product for the year-end finals, they probably shouldn’t have a tournament the week before that guys can still qualify for, guys are still battling for those points, you can still get injured for if you’re already in the finals, whatever the case may be.
“No fault to Novak, no fault to anyone in that position. He wanted to play that tournament like you said, he owns that tournament, he lives there. Did he know prior to the event he wasn’t going, probably. But, he’s out there playing a normal week, it’s scheduled on the tour and definitely no fault to him about how that played out.”
Johnson followed up by saying, “Yeah, it’s no big deal I don’t think, Novak can do whatever he wants. I feel like it is a little bit of a bummer for Lorenzo, because I feel like you know it’s the first finals he makes and he’s in none of the photos, in none of the pre-week stuff, it’s kind of a bummer…
“…You know it’s brutal that he had to get there and none of the pre-stuff. But, next year they’ve changed that rule so it ends in Paris, but he did try and do it the hard way and qualify, but came up a little short and ultimately gets in.”
Former Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey added, “The lead up, the photos, like all the stuff. There’s so many great things about the event and Musetti basically gets there on Sunday night and has to play Monday, you get to do none of the cool stuff.”
This same situation will not be an issue next year, with the ATP Tour changing a rule for the ATP Finals qualification in 2026.
Can Lorenzo Musetti still qualify for the semifinals of the ATP Finals?
The short turnaround from playing in the Athens final proved too much for Musetti, who lost to Taylor Fritz in his first round-robin match at the ATP Finals.
This means that Musetti now faces an uphill battle if he wants to qualify for the ATP Finals, and he will play his second round-robin match just a day later.
Musetti will play Alex de Minaur in his second round-robin match at the ATP Finals this year, knowing that he needs to win to keep his hopes of remaining in the tournament alive.
This will be a fifth meeting between the pair, with Musetti leading the head-to-head against De Minaur 3-1.
However, all three of his victories over De Minaur have come on either clay or grass, with De Minaur winning their only previous hard court encounter.
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