ATP Tour

Djokovic, Shelton in same half of Basel draw; Wawrinka faces Lehecka

Novak Djokovic faces a fellow formidable indoor competitor in his opening match at the Swiss Indoors Basel, where the 39-year-old Serbian is looking to boost his bid for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Making his first appearance at the Swiss ATP 500 event since 2011, Djokovic has been drawn against French lefty Ugo Humbert in the first round and could face top seed and former finalist Ben Shelton in the semi-finals. Djokovic, currently 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, is aiming to strengthen his bid for a record 19th qualification to the Nitto ATP Finals.

View the Basel draw

Although Djokovic won the Basel title on his debut in 2009, Humbert poses a dangerous opening test in these conditions. Four of the Frenchman’s seven ATP Tour titles have come indoors, and he famously defeated Carlos Alcaraz en route to the 2024 Rolex Paris Masters final.

Shelton arrives in Basel looking to bounce back from a third-round exit in Shanghai, having reached his first major final at the US Open last month. The 24-year-old American opens against former World No. 2 and 14-time ATP Tour titlist Casper Ruud.

Stan Wawrinka, meanwhile, faces a tough first-round challenge against eighth seed Jiri Lehecka as he prepares to bring the curtain down on his ATP Tour career. The three-time major champion and former World No. 3, who will retire after his Basel campaign, could meet Shelton in the quarter-finals.

Four other players in the hunt for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals feature in the bottom half of the draw: seventh-placed Arthur Fils, ninth-placed Rafael Jodar, 13th-placed Taylor Fritz and 16th-placed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

View the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin

Second seed Fils begins his campaign against big-serving Pole Hubert Hurkacz, while Fritz faces a swift rematch with Stefanos Tsitsipas, who defeated the American in three sets in Shanghai two weeks ago and leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 5-2.

Jodar makes his Basel debut against Alejandro Tabilo in what will be their fourth meeting of 2026. Davidovich Fokina, who defeated Jodar to win his first Masters 1000 crown in Shanghai, opens against Belgian Zizou Bergs.