By winning the ATP 500 event in Astana, Kazakhstan today, Novak Djokovic has qualified for the season-ending ATP Finals for the 15th time in his career.
Djokovic, the reigning Wimbledon champion, qualifies for the ATP Finals under the Grand Slam champion provision, which awards entry to a current-year Grand Slam champion who finishes between No. 8 and No. 20 in the ATP Live Race to Turin. He jumps from No. 15 to No. 10 in the standings after his victory in Astana today, and is now guaranteed to finish no lower than No. 20 after Paris, no matter what happens.
Astana was his fourth title of the year—he also won the Masters 1000 event in Rome, his 21st Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and the ATP 250 in Tel Aviv just last week.
Djokovic is just the fifth man in the 53-year history of the ATP Finals to qualify for the season-ending championships 15 or more times.
MOST YEARS QUALIFIED FOR ATP FINALS (since 1970):
18: Roger Federer [2002-2015, 2017-2020]
17: Rafael Nadal [2005-2020, 2022]
16: Jimmy Connors [1972-1985, 1987-1988]
15: Novak Djokovic [2007-2016, 2018-2022]
15: Andre Agassi [1988-1992, 1994-1996, 1998-2003, 2005]
Djokovic has now qualified for the ATP Finals every year since 2007 apart from his injury-marred 2017 season, where he ended his season in July due to an elbow injury. But despite only playing the first six and a half months of the year that year, he was still only a few hundred points away from the player who ended up qualifying in the No. 8 spot (he ended up finishing the year at No. 12 on the ATP year-end rankings).
Djokovic is the fifth player to qualify for this year's ATP Finals after Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
He’s a five-time champion at the ATP Finals in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, tied for second-most titles in tournament history. Federer holds the record with six.