Djokovic Sees Health Progress as Paris Masters Run Could Revive ATP Finals Bid

Novak Djokovic at the 2025 Athens event (photo: Facebook Hellenic Championship)

Novak Djokovic arrives at the Paris Masters with two questions tied together: whether he can manage the health problem that has disrupted his season, and whether there’s enough time for a strong finish to carry him into the ATP Finals. He says he and his team are getting closer to understanding the issue. Paris will test what that progress means on court.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t shared a diagnosis. After leaving the Cincinnati Masters in August, he described an ongoing problem that causes him “a lot of issues, especially when it is humid and hot.” He said on Monday in Paris that the difficulty over the past year had shifted his priorities away from results and toward feeling well enough to compete.

“This year the focus shifted to feeling well on the court rather than playing well, to be honest, because for most of the tournaments that I played it was health-wise a big struggle,” Djokovic said.

He also pushed back at outside explanations for his results, saying the problem wasn’t his preparation or the amount of training he had done. That distinction matters for reading his uneven run: Djokovic’s account points to a physical issue affecting his ability to perform, rather than a lack of work or commitment.

Progress, with a short runway

Djokovic’s season has offered glimpses of his level alongside spells when he couldn’t build momentum. Since Wimbledon, he has failed to win back-to-back matches in four of his five most recent tournaments. Yet he won his 102nd ATP title at the China Open earlier this month, and he described Beijing as his best week of the year apart from Australia. He also felt he played well in Basel, despite losing a tight match.

“We’re really getting closer to solving what I have been going through in the last 12 months,” he said. Djokovic added that his performance, enjoyment and feel on court improve when he feels well. That’s an encouraging link, though it leaves the central question open: can the better stretches last through the demands of a tournament?

Paris is his 11th event of the season. His record stands at 20 wins and nine losses, while Carlos Alcaraz has played one more tournament despite missing almost five months through injury. Djokovic’s comparatively limited schedule reflects the difficult season he described. With only a couple of weeks left in the campaign, each match offers a chance to build rhythm, but little room to recover from a setback.

Qualification depends on a deep run

Djokovic is 11th in the ATP Finals race, with places reserved for the top eight. He needs a deep run in Paris and help from results elsewhere to reach the year-end event. Jannik Sinner, already qualified, is absent through injury, but Djokovic’s position still leaves him needing a substantial points haul from this week.

The stakes are familiar for a player who has won the ATP Finals a record seven times. A place in the field would give him another opportunity to compete for the title; missing out would close that route this season. Either way, his immediate task is more direct: string together wins while managing the problem he says has hampered him for months.

Vacherot brings a sharp opening test

Djokovic’s first opponent is Valentin Vacherot, whose form makes the matchup a demanding start. Vacherot has recently beaten Rafael Jodar, Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz and Jiri Lehecka on his way to winning the Swiss Indoors. That run gives him confidence and presents Djokovic with a player arriving in winning rhythm.

Djokovic has won the Paris Masters seven times, a record that brings substantial history to this week’s assignment. But past success won’t answer the questions raised by his recent season. The clearest signs will come in the level he sustains, his movement through successive matches and whether he can keep building on the form he found in Beijing and Basel.

Djokovic says he wants to enjoy the final weeks of the season while continuing to pursue strong results beyond the Grand Slams. Paris puts both aims under pressure at once: a productive run could strengthen his ATP Finals case and show that his improving health is translating into reliable tennis.