Djokovic gets Basel wild card as ATP Finals race heats up

• It will be the first time Djokovic has played in Basel since the last of his three appearances in 2011.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic holds up seven fingers as he poses with the trophy after winning the men's singles final for a seventh time at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on October 6, 2026. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

Novak Djokovic has accepted a wild card for the ATP 500 tournament in Basel later this month as the 39-year-old battles to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, organisers announced on Friday.

It will be the first time Djokovic has played in Basel since the last of his three appearances in 2011.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner claimed the 102nd title of his career in Beijing earlier this month but then lost his opening match at the Shanghai Masters.

Djokovic is a seven-time ATP Finals champion but has slipped to 11th in the Race to Turin standings. Only the top eight players qualify for the November 15-22 showpiece.

Following his defeat in Shanghai, Djokovic had suggested that the Paris Masters in early November would be his only tournament before the ATP Finals.

He had also been due to play in the lucrative Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia next week, but the event was postponed until late December following several deadly attacks carried out by Yemen's Houthis.

Only Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz have so far secured qualification for Turin. World number one Jannik Sinner, who had also qualified, has called an early end to his season due to a knee injury, leaving six places still available.