"I was still in with pretty decent chance" - Cameron Norrie upset over Novak Djokovic's "unfair" ATP Finals qualification

Cameron Norrie has voiced his displeasure about Novak Djokovic’s qualification for the ATP Finals.

Novak Djokovic was granted a direct qualification for the Finals in Turin under the Grand Slam qualification rule as a result of his victory at Wimbledon and an assurance that he would end the year ranked inside the top 20 after his title win in Astana.

Cameron Norrie, who was the second alternate at the Finals in 2021, but was able to contest after withdrawals from Matteo Berrettini and Stefanos Tsitsipas, is out of the race to the 2022 Finals. The World No. 13 was, however, unhappy and suggested that the Serb earning a qualification under the pretext of Wimbledon was "unfair."

"(Novak Djokovic) obviously qualified from Wimbledon so that seems a bit strange. I don't know if that was the rule before or not, but its seems unfair," he said, per the Daily Mail.

2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Norrie’s argument was that Novak Djokovic was given a preference despite Wimbledon being stripped of its ranking points, which affected other players such as him and Nick Kyrgios, who made deep runs in the tournament as well. The stint at SW19 would have ideally earned the Brit 720 ranking points, while runner-up Krygios would have gained 1,200 points.

"I guess for Nick Kyrgios as well. He lost in the final and he gets nothing. I knew that I hadn't had the points all along, but I was still in with pretty decent chance I thought," he said.

Nick Krygios’ agent Stuart Duguid was of a similar opinion.

"First and foremost, Novak deserves to be in Turin. But it feels arbitrary that he is the only player to benefit from his performances at Wimbledon," he said.

An ATP Spokesperson, however, gave an insight into the issue, stating that the Grand Slam qualification rule was not dropped despite the Wimbledon fiasco.

"The removal of ranking points at this year's Wimbledon was done on the basis of fairness to all players, and no further rule changes linked to the competition's status were deemed necessary. Any player competing at Wimbledon or the other Grand Slams this year had the opportunity to qualify for Turin via the Grand Slam qualification rule," it was stated.

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With Novak Djokovic qualifying and Cameron Norrie falling short, who is in contention for the ATP Finals?

Felix Auger-Aliassime is on track to make his ATP Finals debut

Novak Djokovic has already qualified for the ATP Finals set to be held in Turin from November 13-20. He will be joined by the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev. With six players booking their berths, two spots are still up for grabs.

Four players will be fighting for the two remaining berths after Cameron Norrie fell out of the race with an early loss in Vienna. Felix Auger-Aliassime has all but qualified for the ATP Finals, being less than 100 points away from qualification. Other players in contention, such as Andrey Rublev, Taylor Fritz and Hubert Hurkacz, will hope for great results in Paris to have a chance at the final spot.