VIENNA — Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz have accepted wild cards for next week's ATP 500 events in Basel and Vienna respectively, opting to remain active ahead of the Paris Masters rather than rest. The surprise entries will see Alcaraz headline the Vienna Open and Djokovic return to the Swiss Indoors in Basel after 15 years away, with both tournaments beginning on 26 October.
Former American stars John Isner and Sam Querrey assessed the decisions on the latest episode of 'Nothing Major', with Isner suggesting Alcaraz is playing with a point to prove. "He [Carlos Alcaraz] had all that time off; he's relatively fresh. The freshest he will probably ever be for the rest of his career, going into the fall indoor season. I think he's fired up; he wants to prove that he is the best player in the world," Isner said. He added: "Certainly wants to win the year-end finals in Turin. He will be the favourite, no matter where he is seeded at that event, with [Jannik] Sinner not participating. I think he wants to maybe prove he is still the guy to beat, heading into the 2027 season." Querrey added: "What a treat for Vienna! It's like winning the lottery," with the American having gone 2-3 in his five career matches at the Vienna Open.
Isner believes the 23-year-old Spaniard is eager to build momentum after missing several months through injury. Alcaraz has won two events since returning, the Laver Cup and the Japan Open, but fell short at the two biggest tournaments he has contested, the US Open and the Shanghai Masters. He is expected to play Vienna, Paris and the ATP Finals in Turin, where a title in Austria could provide a confidence boost. The field in Vienna will be formidable, with two-time Grand Slam champion Alexander Zverev, former world number one Daniil Medvedev, and top-10 stars Flavio Cobolli, Alex de Minaur and Frances Tiafoe also entered. Italy's Jannik Sinner defeated Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the 2025 final.
For Djokovic, the motivation is clear. The Serb sits 11th in the Race to Turin, behind Alex de Minaur and Rafael Jodar, and must overtake both to qualify for the ATP Finals, an event he has won seven times. A title in Basel would add 500 points to his tally. "He's rested; he recently won a 500, then lost early in Shanghai. Mentally and physically, it's about as fresh as he's going to be going into this event. But man, you look at the top eight seeds, holy cow, it's loaded. This 500 week is brutal on both sides. You have Novak at the fifth seed, at 12 in the world. He's in good shape, for sure, to take another title here like he did in Beijing," Isner said. He added: "It shows his mindset; no one would be surprised. Everyone would understand if he kind of shut it down this year. No, he is hungry and hungrier than ever. I thought it would be the opposite after the US Open; I thought he would shut it down and then gear up for Australia. No, look what he's doing."
Steve Johnson and Querrey also weighed in on Djokovic chasing a rare qualification battle. "In my opinion, this is Novak, obviously hasn't played that many tournaments, he's on the outside looking in for the World Tour Finals, for the first time in his career, and I just think that's a big enough carrot on the end of the stick for him to go out there and get the job done," Johnson said. Querrey added: "This is the first time ever Novak has had to chase points. He's never been in this situation; it's never happened before. It's kind of a new place for him." Joao Fonseca defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-4 to win the Swiss Indoors title a year ago.