"Still remarkable" - Novak Djokovic choosing not to defend ATP Finals title draws surprise reaction from tennis insider

Novak Djokovic's decision to withdraw from the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals sparked a reaction from a notable tennis insider. The Serb was the defending champion at the year-end finals but decided to pull out due to an unspecified ongoing injury.

Djokovic had an underwhelming season, albeit by his standards, failing to win either a Major or a Masters 1000 title. In a strange twist of fate, the only event the 37-year-old won this year was the elusive gold medal. However, his deep runs in the Majors and a few Masters 1000 events helped him clinch a spot for the ATP Finals.

The 24-time-Major champion took to Instagram to announce his withdrawal from this year's event. He stated that an ongoing injury led to this decision and apologized to his fans who were eager to see him compete. He also wished his contemporaries competing at the year-end event luck.

"It's quite an honor to qualify for the @nittoatpfinals in Turin. I was really looking forward to being there, but due to ongoing injury I won't be playing next week. Apologies to those who were planning to see me. Wishing all the players a great tournament. See you soon!" the Serb wrote.

Interestingly, during his appearance at the Davis Cup Finals in September, the former World No. 1 had stated that playing at the ATP Finals was not on his goals list.

Tennis insider Ben Rothenberg took to X (formerly Twitter) to call Novak Djokovic's decision not to defend his title at the ATP Finals "remarkable."

"Not a big shock given how he had talked about his plans for the season (and how he was already on vacation in the Maldives), but Novak Djokovic choosing not to defend his title at the ATP Finals in Turin after qualifying is still remarkable," Rothenberg wrote.

Interestingly, this will be the first year since 2001 to not feature any of the Big 3 members - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic.

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Novak Djokovic will remain inside Top 10 despite not defending his title at ATP Finals 2024

The Serb celebrating his win (Source: Getty)

Despite deciding not to defend his title at the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals, Novak Djokovic will manage to stay inside the Top 10 of the ATP rankings. The Serb's decision has cost him a massive 1300 points which had dropped him to World No. 6 behind Taylor Fritz.

However, the worst-case scenario for the Serb before the 2025 Australian Open will be a drop to ninth, which will still help him get a respectable seeding at the Grand Slam. This means that he will manage to avoid a meeting with the likes of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Alexander Zverev, at least until the quarterfinals.