Novak Djokovic suffered a costly defeat to Jan-Lennard Struff at the Swiss Indoors in Basel on Thursday, missing a valuable opportunity to strengthen his bid for a place at the ATP Finals and leaving himself with limited chances to close the gap in the race to Turin.
Making his first appearance in Basel in 15 years, the 39-year-old Serb was beaten 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(5) in the second round, suffering his first career defeat to the German veteran after winning their previous eight meetings.
"I knew I needed to go for it. There was only one way to play it. So I was very happy," said Struff, who clinched the win with his 27th ace of the match.
"The last serve went into 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 easily. So I'm very pleased with the performance."
The result left Djokovic 11th in the ATP Finals qualification race, 319 points behind ninth-placed Rafael Jodar, who currently occupies the final qualifying spot, with the injured Jannik Sinner not playing in Turin.
Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton have all secured places in the ATP Finals, which begin Nov. 15, leaving Djokovic battling for one of the remaining spots, with next week's Paris Masters offering another opportunity to earn points.
Djokovic will head to the Nov. 2-8 Paris Masters as a record seven-time champion but has not said whether he would consider entering the ATP 250 event in Stockholm afterward if he still needs points to secure a place in the season finale.
He missed the previous two editions of the ATP Finals because of injury but had indicated that he intended to return to the event, which he has won a record seven times, if he qualifies.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has endured another physically challenging season, although his run to the Australian Open final, a Wimbledon semifinal and his triumph in Beijing have provided notable highlights.
Few will write off Djokovic's chances of reaching Turin at this stage, given the resilience he has demonstrated throughout his illustrious career.
"I won the title in Beijing a few weeks ago, which was definitely my best week this year apart from the Grand Slam final in Australia," Djokovic told reporters before the tournament in Basel.
"It's been a year with a lot of struggles, particularly physically, but I'm still here and as competitive as anybody. If somebody beats me, well done, good job, but I'm definitely going to fight and not give these youngsters too easy a stroll on court. They have to earn their victories.
"That's also what motivates me: seeing how I can match up with players 15-plus years younger than me. It's been quite an interesting process to experience."
