Novak Djokovic will return to the Swiss Indoors Basel for the first time in 15 years after signing up for the ATP 500 event beginning October 26. The world No. 8 lost his opening match in Shanghai this fortnight and had said the only tournament left on his schedule this year was the Paris Masters, unless he qualified for the ATP Finals.
Djokovic knows he would need to do more to make it to the season-ending championships, so he has signed up for the ATP 500 in Basel. The announcement comes days after Carlos Alcaraz signed up for the Vienna Open, another ATP 500 event taking place in the same week.
Alcaraz and Djokovic add extra matches
It has been five years since Alcaraz last played in Vienna, and four years since he even played a tournament in that week. But it seems both men have decided to try to get some extra matches and ranking points at the ATP 500 events.
Djokovic's decision marks a U-turn from his earlier statement that Paris would be his only remaining event this season unless he qualified for the ATP Finals.
Semi-finals day in Shanghai and Wuhan
It is semi-finals day at both the Shanghai Masters and the Wuhan Open. In Shanghai, rising star Rafael Jodar is hunting a place in his first Masters 1000 final but must get past former champion Daniil Medvedev. The 20-year-old Spaniard has also publicly apologised after being punished for swearing at a ball kid earlier in the tournament and now wants to seek them out to apologise in person.
In Wuhan, Britain's Sonay Kartal is hoping to continue her fairytale run after upsetting Belinda Bencic, Jasmine Paolini, and Elina Svitolina on her way to a first WTA 1000 semi-final. She faces Jelena Ostapenko for a spot in the championship match. Kartal is only just coming back from a six-month injury layoff and her ranking has dropped to No. 170.
