Novak Djokovic officially withdrew from the 2024 Paris Masters, which is the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season.
Only a couple of days ago, reports from Serbia suggested that Djokovic might withdraw from the Paris Masters. It didn't take even the full 48 hours, and those reports proved to be truthful.
The 37-year-old's name disappeared from the entry list of the Paris Masters, a tournament where he had so much success in the past, winning it seven times, including last year.
At this stage of his tennis career, the 24-time Grand Slam champion wants to find the best balance between his professional and personal life, as he often spoke about how much he misses his family while competing on the Tour.
That's why Djokovic also announced that in 2025, he will play an even more restricted schedule, which will mostly include only Grand Slam tournaments and events in which he can represent his country, Serbia.
It seems that this approach has already started this year, as everything indicates that the seven-time Paris Masters champion will end his 2024 season early after the Paris Masters withdrawal.
The current World No. 4 in the rankings will also face some consequences in the ATP Rankings. Since he won't defend his title in Paris, he is sure to lose the 1,000 points that he earned last year, which means that Djokovic will surely drop by at least one place in the ATP Rankings.
However, there is a chance even for a more significant drop, but whether that happens will depend on whether Djokovic qualifies for the ATP Finals, and if he does, whether he will play at the event.
Given his withdrawal from one of his most favorite tournaments, it seems unlikely that he will play at the ATP Finals in Turin, but he doesn't even have to make it to the event.
At the moment, he's the sixth player in the 2024 ATP Race, only 65 points ahead of the seventh, Casper Ruud, who is now almost guaranteed to overtake the Serbian player.
Andrey Rublev is also not too far behind, with a 250-point deficit to Djokovic, and with one ATP 500, one ATP Masters 1000, and one ATP 250 tournament left, overtaking the 37-year-old seems like a very achievable goal for the Russian player.
That would put Djokovic into the eighth spot, and that's the one he might also keep for the remainder of the season. Currently ninth, Alex de Minaur has struggled with injuries in recent months, which also translated into his form. He is currently 515 points behind Djokovic, and that might be too big of a deficit to make up for.
While the Serbian's withdrawal from the Paris Masters will disappoint all of his fans, there will be at least one man who will be happy about it. Coincidentally, it's Alex Michelsen, who Djokovic beat in Shanghai, as the American player will move into the main draw as a result of Djokovic's withdrawal.
Plenty are waiting for some withdrawals from the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament to make it directly into the main draw. The next one is Matteo Berrettini, with Pedro Martinez and Gael Monfils behind him.