CNN
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Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic was drawn from the Italian Open in a few months of struggling with his shape and winning streaks in three games.
The withdrawal means the 24-time Grand Slam singles champions will enter the French Open at the end of May without a victory at Clay this season. He has won three previous Roland Garros titles. The last one came in 2023.
Tournaments in Madrid and Rome are often used as warm-up events for Roland Garros. This is when a player like Djokovic takes rhythm with clay before the second major of the season.
There was no reason for his withdrawal, which was about former French Open Champion Gym Courier.
“It’s a concern because it’s the perfect place to prepare for Roland Garros,” Courier told Tclive. “The conditions are very similar. They’re back to the sea. If you’re going to play between Madrid and Rome, Rome wants to play to prepare for Roland Garos.
“It’s very strange now to announce that we’re pulling it out quite a while ago, and when we arrive at Roland Garros we’ll see what that means,” Courier added.
The first time Djokovic has been Djokovic since his main draw debut in 2007 is that he will not be joining Internazionali Bnl D’Italia.
His decision to withdraw is in a series of losses. Serbs have recently fallen into the world. 44 Matteo Arnald was in the opening match of the Madrid Open. Before that, he lost to Alejandro Tabilo in 32 rounds at the Monte Carlo Masters in early April.
Djokovic’s best performance this year took place in March, giving hope for his return. He advanced to the Miami Open final and ended up losing to Jakubu Mensik. Now, that performance seems more of a blip.
The current World No. 5 was forced to retire in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January due to an injury in January.
It’s a new experience for Djokovic. He said at a press conference after his defeat by Arnardo in the Spanish capital.
“I know that trying to win a match isn’t really thinking about going far in a tournament, which is a completely different feeling to what I’ve had professional tennis for over 20 years.
“It’s a mental challenge for me to face this kind of feeling in court…but you know, I think that’s the circle of career life. In the end, it’s going to happen.”
