Novak Djokovic’s path to the ATP Finals in Turin has opened up after a trio of his rivals in the Race To Turin lost key matches.

The seven-time ATP Finals winner has insisted he is not focusing on qualifying for this year’s end-of-season finale to the ATP Tour after a year that has seen him play a reduced tournament schedule.

He has opted against playing in regular tour events and focused his attention on Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic Games in Paris, where he won the gold medal for Serbia.

After playing for his country in the Davis Cup last month, he confirmed playing in the ATP Finals in Turin was not a priority at this late stage in his career.

“Torino is not my goal at all, to be honest, I am not chasing ATP Finals, I am not chasing the rankings,” he said.

“As far as I am concerned, I am done with those tournaments for my career. Whether I will play in other tournaments this year or in the future, I can’t say right now.

“My main priorities are playing for the national team and slams, everything else is less important.”

Djokovic may not be focused on defending the ATP Finals title he won by beating Jannik Sinner in last year’s Final in Turin, but he is now in pole position to qualify for the tournament once again.

The top eight players in the calendar year qualify for the ATP Final and Djokovic was down in 10th place in that list a few weeks ago.

His qualification chances were given a huge boost after his run to the Shanghai Masters final, where he lost against Sinner.

Yet Djokovic admitted he didn’t know if he would play in additional ATP Tour events in the final weeks of the season, opening the door for some of his rivals to overtake him.

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Djokovic moved up to sixth place in the ATP Race that decides who qualifies for the ATP Finals after his run of results in Shanghai, but the players behind him could have made up ground on him this week as he is not playing on the ATP Tour.

Yet all three of the players behind Djokovic in the ATP Race lost on Friday, with Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud and Alex de Minaur all beaten.

Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka rolled back the years as he beat Andrey Rublev 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in the Nordic Open in Stockholm.

“The key was to stay focused and positive with myself,” said Wawrinka, who beat the player in sixth place in the ATP Race.

“Andrey is such an amazing player, but I was feeling good on the court, I was moving well. I could start to dictate a little bit, and with so much support from the crowd, it is easier to fight on the court.”

Also in Stockholm, Tallon Griekspoor upset second seed Casper Ruud, as he dented the Norwegian’s hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals.

Ruud is currently in seventh place in the ATP Race and will not get any close to Djokovic this week, with the same story playing out for De Minaur.

Frenchman Hugo Gaston turned on the style in Antwerp to beat De Minaur 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, to move into the semi-finals of the ATP 250 tournament in Antwerp.

Rublev and Ruud will be back on court next week chasing big ranking points in the ATP 500 tournament in Basel, with De Minaur set to play in the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna.

Yet the path to the ATP Finals appears to be clearing for Djokovic, who has yet to decide whether he will play in the last ATP Masters tournament in Paris before next month’s ATP Finals.

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