Novak Djokovic has endured just as many highs as he has lows in the 2026 season ahead of what could be his final appearance of the year at the Paris Masters.
Djokovic has shown an extremely high level at certain points of 2026, particularly at the Australian Open and the China Open, the latter of which saw him win the tournament for a record seventh time.
However, Djokovic has also suffered a litany of early exits at events this year, including at the Cincinnati Open, the Italian Open, and the Shanghai Masters.
Health issues have rocked Djokovic throughout the year, but he is still plugging away on the ATP Tour and he has an outside chance of qualifying for the Finals at the end of the year.
He needs to have a deep run at the Paris Masters and he has been talking to press ahead of the final Masters tournament of the 2026 ATP Tour calendar.
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“This year the kind of focus shifted on feeling well on the court rather than playing well, to be honest, because for most of the tournaments that I played, I didn’t play many, it was health-wise a big struggle,” said the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
“Physically, you know, just struggled a lot. Had nothing to do with my preparation or whether I’m training enough, because I see there are a lot of people that love to express their expert opinion on knowing exactly what’s happening with me, but they don’t.
“But nevertheless, you know, as I said, whenever I kind of felt better on the court, and lately that has been the case, we’re really getting closer to solving what I have been going through in the last 12 months, so, you know, right away my performance level, my enjoyment on the court, my feeling is great, and I play better.”
Djokovic cited the China Open and the Australian Open as his best two tournaments of the year.
“Beijing was the best week of the year, other than Australia, and I thought I played pretty well in Basel, as well. Of course that was a tight match to lose, but yeah, you know, just trying to enjoy the last couple weeks of the season and on the court feeling better primarily, as I said. And then the performance will come. Yeah, we’ll see after that.”
Djokovic defeated the likes of Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Alexander Zverev between the Australian Open and the China Open, which proves he still has what it takes to challenge the ATP’s elite.
He will have to prove that again at the Paris Masters, as he has been given a nightmare draw at the ATP 1000 tournament.
He is set for a first round tie against Valentin Vacherot, who most recently claimed the second ATP title of his career at the Swiss Indoors.
He has also been drawn in the same section of the draw as Zverev and Alex de Minaur, so if he qualifies for the ATP Finals it will be one of the more impressive achievements of his career.
For Djokovic, that really is saying something.
