Novak Djokovic has officially withdrawn from this year’s Cincinnati Open.
Djokovic last competed at Wimbledon, where he was beaten in the semifinals by eventual champion and world number one Jannik Sinner.
The Serbian was then scheduled to compete in Toronto, but alongside Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic withdrew from the Canadian Open.
While the Cincinnati Open is expected to have a stronger field than in Canada, Djokovic will not be present.
Novak Djokovic will be hoping to avoid a similar fate to what happened at the 2024 US Open
It is no secret that Djokovic is approaching retirement, something he has been very open about himself, and his schedule is a lot more sparse than most of his rivals on the ATP Tour.
Grand Slams are the priority for Djokovic, but he has not actually won one since the 2023 US Open.
In 2023, Djokovic actually beat Alcaraz to win the Cincinnati Open title, which was his third at the Masters 1000 tournament.
However, last year Djokovic missed both the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open heading into the New York major.
Djokovic had just won an elusive Olympic gold, which has just had its one-year anniversary, and was looking to rest after putting all of his focus into the Paris Games.
However, all of this focus on the Olympics meant that Djokovic sacrificed the US Open, where he suffered his earliest Grand Slam defeat since 2017.
Djokovic was beaten by Alexei Popyrin in the third round of the US Open last year, and he did not shy away from the fact that he was both physically and emotionally tired after his Olympic exploits.
“I don’t know. Maybe, maybe. But it’s a different surface. I mean, obviously it had an effect,” Djokovic said in his post-match press conference. “I spent a lot of energy winning the gold, and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically.
“But because it’s US Open, you know, I gave it a shot and I tried my best. I mean, I didn’t have any physical issues. I just felt out of gas, you know, and you could see that with the way I played.
“Just from the very beginning, from the first match, I just didn’t find myself at all on this court. It’s all I can say, you know. You know, life moves on. I mean, yeah, just try and recalibrate and look for what’s next.”
Djokovic has not had to put any energy into an Olympic Games this year, but now needs to do something that no-one has before.
Novak Djokovic will need to make history after his Cincinnati Open withdrawal
Not only is Djokovic not playing any warm-up tournaments before the US Open this year, but he has also not played any hard court matches in five months.
Although his last tournament on a hard court was of some success, with Djokovic reaching the Miami Open final before losing to Jakub Mensik.
Djokovic is now going to need to attempt to do something that no other player has done before and win a US Open title without playing any matches on hard courts in months.
It is something that Djokovic has achieved at the Australian Open before, but his last tournament before the new season would always have been on hard courts as well.
The next time that the now 38-year-old is expected to be seen on a match court will be for the revamped US Open mixed doubles event, where Djokovic will partner his compatriot Olga Danilovic.
Djokovic will then face the big test in singles, as he looks to respond to doubters who think that his Grand Slam winning days are over.
However, if the world number six suffers another early exit then it has been suggested that Djokovic could be forced into retiring.
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