Novak Djokovic has played a reduced schedule in 2025, with his appetite to compete in tournaments outside of the Grand Slams waning in recent years as he edges towards the final chapters of his record-breaking career.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has openly admitted he would rather spend time with his young family than play in tournaments that fail to set his pulse racing, so it is surprising to see his name on the entry list of an ATP 250 event in Greece this week.
Yet the story behind this event reveals why this was one tournament Djokovic was always going to play in, as his family own an event that used to be staged in his Serbian homeland.
It has been moved to Greece this year and with Djokovic recently moving to the country with his wife and two children, he confirmed many months ago that he would be the star attraction in this tournament.
“I hope that you guys are as excited as I am and all the players to play in Athens, which has the ATP tournament back again after 30 years,” Djokovic said via the tournament’s Instagram account.
“There is a great excitement…this arena being one of the most famous basketball arenas in the world, home of Panathinaikos, one of the best clubs in Europe.
“[It’s] such a historic venue, and it’s a great honour and great pleasure to be here. I’m very excited to see you all fill up this amazing stadium and hopefully watch some world-class tennis.”
Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti is also in Athens as he looks to collect ranking points that will allow him to claim the final qualifying place up for grabs in next week’s ATP Finals in Turin, with Djokovic yet to confirm whether he will play in the end-of-season event.
Djokovic has qualified for Turin comfortably after reaching the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams this year, but he opted against playing in the event last year, citing an injury issue.
There is a growing expectation that he will compete in Turin this year, as he has hinted he will use the tournament in Athens to test his body before making a final decision on his participation.
Italian Tennis President Angelo Binaghi appeared to confirm Djokovic will play in Turin next week when he made this announcement in Monday, as he also hoped to see local favourite Musetti at the ATP Finals.
“We have confirmation that Djokovic will play in Turin. Musetti deserves to be in the top eight, and he already deserved it in 2024,” Binaghi was quoted as stating.
Prize money for the ATP Finals will set new record this year, with any player who goes through the entire tournament undefeated taking home a massive $5,071,000. It is the biggest prize in men’s tennis in an official tour event and a big lift on the $4,881,100 won as he lifted the ATP Finals title last year.
The ATP Finals will offer a record $15.5 million in total prize money, with each match from the semi-finals onwards will be worth more than $1 million.
The semi-final victors will add $1,183,500 to their tally, while the champion of the title match will take home $2,367,000 on top of what they earned earlier in the tournament.