Judging by the photos of Novak Djokovic, his season is over.

Novak Djokovic is closing in on qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin, but he appears to have already set his time for his 2024 season.

The former world number one is sixth in this year’s ATP Race standings, with the top eight players securing a place at the lucrative season finale in Italy.

Djokovic won the ATP Finals for a record seventh time last year, but he has made clear his ambitions of qualifying for this year’s tournament are limited.

“Turin is not my goal at all, to be honest, I’m not chasing the ATP final, I’m not chasing rankings,” Djokovic said after playing for Serbia in the Davis Cup in September.

“For me, I’m done with these tournaments in my career. Whether I will play in other tournaments this year or in the future, I cannot say now.

“My main priorities are playing for the national team and tournaments, everything else is less important.”

Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud are among the players vying to reach the ATP finals, but it is increasingly clear that Djokovic was being brutally honest when he said he had little interest in playing in Turin.

As his motivation to play tournaments other than the Grand Slam or Davis Cup for Serbia wanes, a week in Turin and all the promotional events the players have to take part in before the tournament may not go to Djokovic’s liking.

Photos of the 24-time Grand Slam champion sunbathing on Maldives beaches in recent days appear to suggest he is unlikely to play again in 2024.

While Djokovic may want to become a part-time tennis player in the final chapters of his career, his desire to play in an extremely limited tournament schedule will have a major bearing on his ranking as well as his ability to be in top form for Grand Slams and tournaments. Davis Cup.

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Despite this limited activity, coaching guru Patrick Mouratoglou has suggested Djokovic is still a threat to win big in tennis next year.

In an exclusive interview with Tennis365 ahead of the UTS grand final in London in December, Serena Williams’ former coach suggested that writing off all-time greats is a dangerous game.

“I think he had a very bad year, but it comes after an incredible year,” Mouratoglou told Tennis365.

“Let’s not forget that just last year he won three Grand Slams and played in the final of another. Therefore, we must not forget that it was just a year ago, not ten years ago, but just a year ago.

“He won the Olympics, which was his main goal this year, beating Carlos in the final with fantastic tennis, so he’s not far behind us.

“I think he can beat them (Sinner and Alcaraz). This is very difficult, before there was a large margin, but now there is none.

“When he plays them, I think anyone can win, but I don’t think he’s far behind. I think he can still win Grand Slams, I’m sure of that.

“For Novak, it’s just about his motivation,” Mouratoglou added.

“I understand that he is struggling with this at the moment because his whole career has been about beating the other two and being better than them, it was the fight of his life in tennis and he won.

“So it’s very difficult to stay motivated now. Now that Rafa is retiring, it’s been a problem all year, that’s how I see it, I don’t know if I’m right, but it’s been a tough year for Novak.

“It’s because from the very beginning of the season you could see that Rafa was struggling so much and it probably occurred to him: well, I’ve won.

“When you spend your whole life fighting for something and you finally get it, where do you find the motivation?

“So I hope this difficult year is something he can use to fuel his motivation and come back next year as good as last year because then we’ll have an incredible fight between those three players and I want to see it.”