Novak Djokovic opens up on Basel Open ‘hurt’ and reveals Paris Masters plan

Novak Djokovic admits his early Basel Open defeat to Jan-Lennard Struff “hurts”, as his ATP Finals chances received a big setback.

Struff earned one of the biggest wins of his career after beating Djokovic 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (5) in two hours and 36 minutes to reach the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors.

The German had lost all eight of his previous encounters with the Serbian, but his aggressive style of play ended up being the difference in his surprise victory on Thursday.

The 36-year-old said in his on-court interview, “I knew I needed to go for it. There was only one way to play it. So, I was very, very happy. The last serve went in the corner like many balls today.

“I knew I had to play my best tennis to have a chance. The last eight times he beat me very, very easily. So, very, very happy and pleased with the performance.”

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For Djokovic, his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals have been dealt a significant blow, with the 39-year-old 319 points behind Rafael Jodar in the Race.

The 20-year-old Spaniard sits in the ninth and last qualification spot, which has been freed up due to Jannik Sinner’s season-ending knee injury, whereas Djokovic is down in 11th.

Incidentally, at the end of the second set, the 24-time major winner hit three double faults in one game, but the veteran did not think that was the difference-maker in the end. Instead, he praised Struff for his performance.

He told Sportal, “No, I don’t think those three double service faults were the deciding factor. I think it’s just that in the decisive moments, when I had break points, many times in the second and also at the beginning of the third set, he played some incredible shots and incredible points.

“Maybe there were one or two points where I could have been more aggressive, but all credit goes to him. It hurts that I lost, you know, he just played amazing tennis. I don’t remember playing against someone who was this aggressive and this precise. He went with two first serves, and it was just one of those matches.”

Djokovic will likely have one more tournament to try and squeeze his way into the season-ending event in Turin, with the Paris Masters getting underway next week. And shortly after his defeat, the Serb turned his attention to that event in the French capital.

He added, “I’ve only just come off the court, so I’m still disappointed, but I’ll be thinking about Paris in the next few days, and hopefully I can play better there.”

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