MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev has been qualified to play in the 2024 ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals) Finals tournament in Italy this month after Serbia’s Novak Djokovic announced earlier in the day his withdrawal from the competition citing an "ongoing injury."

"I was really looking forward to being there, but due to ongoing injury I won't be playing next week," the tournament’s reigning champion Djokovic said on his Instagram account (outlawed in Russia as belonging to the Meta corporation, which has been recognized as extremist). "Apologies to those who were planning to see me. Wishing all the players a great tournament. See you soon!"

Djokovic, 37, shares the all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles with women’s great Margaret Court. However, Court won 13 out of her 24 Grand Slam champion’s titles before the Open Era (since 1968). On the men’s side, Djokovic’s closest contender in terms of Grand Slam titles is Spain’s Rafael Nadal with 22.

In addition to his 24 Grand Slam titles, Djokovic has won 100 ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals) titles, a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the gold at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 2010 Davis Cup.

Russia’s Rublev, 27, is playing at the international tennis tournaments under a neutral status and he is currently ranked 9th in the ATP World Rankings. He has won 16 ATP singles tournament titles in singles and four more in men’s doubles. He has also appeared in numerous Grand Slam tournaments, albeit never advancing beyond the quarterfinals. Rublev took home the gold at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in mixed doubles (with teammate Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) and also won the 2021 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team.

The 2024 ATP Finals is a men's tennis tournament to be played on indoor hard courts at the Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy, between November 10 and 17, 2024. It brings together World’s Top-8 male players annually, according to the ATP Rankings.

The current ATP Rankings list Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the 1st place and he is followed by Germany’s Alexander Zverev (2nd), Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz (3rd), Daniil Medvedev (4th; a Russian playing under a neutral status), Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (5th), Taylor Fritz from the United States (6th), Norway’s Casper Ruud (7th); Australia’s Alex de Minaur (8th) and Andrey Rublev (9th; a Russian playing under a neutral status).

Following Djokovic’s announcement to withdraw from the tournament, Russia’s Rublev was the closest contender in the ATP Top-8 list to join the competition battling against other top players in Italy this month.

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

However, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.