Djokovic Withdraws from Year-End Finals Due to Ongoing Injury!

The biggest news in professional tennis early this morning was Leylah Fernandez's stunning victory at the year-end championships. She barely qualified at the last moment thanks to consistent participation and strong results, then went on to claim the title.

In the final against this season’s year-end world No.1 Sabalenka, she played with composure to defeat her opponent 6-3, 7-6. Riding an 11-match winning streak, she secured her first year-end championship title. Notably, this marks the first time an Asian player has won at this level. By winning, Fernandez earned 1500 ranking points and a prize of $5.235 million. Her world ranking has now climbed to No. 5.

Besides the WTA Finals, two ATP 250 events were also held this week: the Athens Open and the Metz Open. At Metz, 19-year-old American rising star Ben Shelton performed excellently. After reaching the final, he overcame a 1-5 deficit in the deciding set tiebreak to narrowly upset Norrie with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 victory, capturing his first career singles title on the tour.

With the 250 points earned from the men’s singles title, Shelton is set to break into the top 30 in the upcoming world rankings for the first time, expected to finish the year around No. 24.

Meanwhile, the ATP Athens event, also a 250-level tournament, drew attention because of its men’s singles final featuring veteran Novak Djokovic versus Musetti. Musetti needed to win this match to qualify for the ATP year-end finals.

Djokovic staged a comeback after dropping the first set 4-6, eventually winning 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to claim his 101st career title. It’s worth noting that Djokovic won his first tour-level trophy back in the 2006 season, nearly 19 years ago.

Although Musetti lost and initially missed direct qualification for the year-end finals, Djokovic’s withdrawal allowed him to enter as the first alternate.

“I was really looking forward to competing in Turin and giving it my all, but after completing today’s final in Athens, I regret to inform everyone that due to ongoing injury issues, I have to withdraw from the tournament.”

“To all the fans who were eager to see me play, I am truly sorry. Your support means so much to me. I hope all participants perform well in this event, and I look forward to returning to the court and seeing you all again soon!”

With Djokovic’s withdrawal, the men’s singles lineup and groups for this year’s ATP year-end finals have been finalized as follows:

Jimmy Connors Group

Alcaraz

Fritz

Deminar

Musetti

Bjorn Borg Group

Sinner

Zverev

Shelton

Aliassime

So, who do you think has the best chance to lift the year-end championship trophy this year?(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)