Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka Share Practice Court Ahead of Basel Openers
Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka held a behind-closed-doors practice session on Sunday evening at the Swiss Indoors Basel, setting the stage for high-stakes opening matches at the ATP 500 tournament. ATP Tour reported the training session, bringing together two veterans chasing contrasting milestones at the hard-court event.
Chasing Turin Qualification in Basel
Djokovic enters the tournament ranked 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, sitting 319 points behind ninth-placed Rafael Jodar as he chases a record 19th qualification for the Nitto ATP Finals. Seeded fourth on a wild card, the 39-year-old Serbian plays in Basel for the first time since 2011. He won the title on his debut in 2009. He opens his campaign against French left-hander Ugo Humbert, who has captured four of his seven tour titles indoors and defeated Carlos Alcaraz on the way to the 2024 Rolex Paris Masters final.
Novak Djokovic. Stan Wawrinka.The greatest match point ever played.pic.twitter.com/Yrb1ZDfn3T https://t.co/q7IcDXgivc
Final Basel Appearance for Wawrinka
Across the draw, the 41-year-old Wawrinka is making his 19th and final appearance in the Basel main draw before his planned retirement. The three-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 3 enters on a wild card ranked 140th in the world. He begins his tournament against eighth-seeded Jiri Lehecka, who holds a No. 20 ranking. Tournament organizers scheduled a tribute for Wawrinka on Monday evening ahead of his opening match on Tuesday.
Draw Shifts and Contender Paths
The tournament field saw a late adjustment when seventh seed Alexander Bublik withdrew with a knee injury after the draw was finalized. Casper Ruud shifted into Bublik’s seeded line to face Swiss wild card Dominic Stricker, while American standout Ben Shelton absorbed a revised opening path against a qualifier or lucky loser. Shelton and Djokovic land in the same half of the bracket and could meet in the semifinals, whereas Wawrinka sits in the top half and shares a quarter with Shelton if both players advance. Main-draw play runs through the final on Sunday, 1 November, offering a total prize purse of €2,584,155.
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