Novak Djokovic has confirmed that his desire to play in this year’s ATP Finals is burning brightly after he made a surprise decision to play in the ATP 500 event in Basel later this month.

Djokovic has been playing a limited tournament schedule in recent years, as he has focused his attention on trying to win a 25th Grand Slam title.

As a result, he has only been an occasional visitor to regular ATP Tour events, but he confirmed he was still hungry for more titles when he won the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing earlier this month.

That victory briefly lifted Djokovic into a qualifying position for the ATP Finals, but he has opted against playing in the end-of-season tournament in recent years despite qualifying for the lucrative event in Turin.

Djokovic suggested he has changed that mindset for 2026, as he confirmed he was aiming to compete in the ATP’s marquee tournament and was keen to do all he could to qualify.

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“Beijing was great and a very early exit here, but it is okay. I had a great week in Beijing, and I look forward to resting a little bit and get ready for the indoors,” said the Serbian after he lost against Hubert Hurkacz at the Shanghai Masters.

When asked if he plans to play at the ATP Finals, he added: “I would like to. I am planning on only playing in Paris, so let’s see. Hopefully I can have a good result there.”

Djokovic is currently down in 11th position in the APT Race, with the top nine securing places in Turin following confirmation that world No 1 Jannik Sinner has ended his season early due to a knee injury.

Rafael Jodar and Daniil Medvedev are among the players who have gained ground and pulled clear of Djokovic after their strong performances at the Shanghai Masters.

Alex de Minaur also jumped ahead of Djokovic in the list after he reached the quarter-finals in Shanghai, so Djokovic needed to make a decision on entering an extra event if he was serious about chasing ranking points.

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Now that call has been made, with Djokovic set to enter the indoor tournament in Basel that will give him the chance to challenge for 500 ATP ranking points.

“A legend returns to Basel,” read a tournament statement. “Welcome back, Novak Djokovic! After three appearances from 2009 to 2011, including his tournament triumph in 2009, the 24-time Grand Slam champion and the most successful tennis player of all time returns to the Swiss Indoors Basel for the fourth time. We can’t wait to welcome you back.”

Ben Shelton, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Arthur Fils, Taylor Fritz, Rafael Jodar and Casper Ruud are among the stellar names also set to play in Basel in an event that gets underway on October 26th.

Djokovic may also have been tempted to play in what is always an impressive event at the Vienna Open the same week, but confirmation that Carlos Alcaraz is playing in the Austrian capital ensured the door was closed for the Serbian to play in that event.

ATP 500 tournaments can only have a maximum of six top 10 players on their entry list and Alcaraz’s confirmation to play in Vienna filled their allocation.