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Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic reveal plans to return to competition at Paris Masters

The race for the season-ending No. 1 ranking is back on.

ByBaseline Staff

Published Oct 25, 2023

Carlos Alcaraz acknowledges "it's going to be tougher" to catch Novak Djokovic for year-end No. 1 | Shanghai

The race for the ATP Tour's year-end No. 1 is on! Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have both confirmed their plans to compete in the Rolex Paris Masters, the year's final ATP Masters 1000 event, ahead of the season-ending ATP Finals.

After a first-ever visit to China that featured a semifinal loss in Beijing (to Jannik Sinner) and a third-round loss in Shanghai (to Grigor Dimitrov), the status of Alcaraz's 2023 looked murky as he announced his withdrawal from this week's Swiss Indoors in Basel due to a pair of physical problems: plantar fascia in his left foot and muscle fatigue in his lower back.

But the reigning Wimbledon champion reinvigorated both his fans and his chase for a second straight year-end No. 1 crown with a social media post on Wednesday in which he shared photos of himself on the practice court and on the treatment table, and shared an encouraging update.

"I have good news! I am feeling better every day and I will play Paris-Bercy and be in Turin for the ATP Finals!" Alcaraz wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly called Twitter. "Excited to finish the year on a high!"

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Alcaraz is primed to make his debut at the ATP Finals after an injury he suffered in Paris-Bercy (he retired against eventual champion Holger Rune in the quarterfinals) forced his withdrawal last year.

Djokovic, too, lost to Rune in Paris last year (in the final) and he'll bid for a seventh title at Accor Arena in his own quest to finish 2023 on top. The Serb, bidding to end the year as No. 1 for a record-extending eighth time, has played just two matches (in Serbia's Davis Cup group-stage campaign last month) since beating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets to win the US Open on Sept. 10.

But on Tuesday, he hit the court in Belgrade with a super-fan, and confirmed he'll take part in Paris in a video message to his "NoleFam."

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The ATP rankings take the last 52 weeks into account, and while Djokovic still has points on his ranking from winning last year's ATP Finals, he sits just 500 points (8,945) ahead of Alcaraz (8,445) in what they've accumulated this year.