Novak Djokovic, another forfeit paving the way for Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Novak Djokovic will not be present at the Madrid Masters 1000 and has communicated his forfeit directly through social media. The Serbian tennis player explained the choice simply and directly, “Madrid, unfortunately I am not ready to compete this year. I’m working to recover, see you soon.”

A decision that confirms the perplexities that had emerged in previous days, when Djokovic himself had already spoken openly about suboptimal physical condition. In fact, on the sidelines of his presence at the Movistar Arena for the Euroleague match between Real Madrid Baloncesto and KK Crvena zvezda, he had stated, “I hope I can play in Madrid, I’m working for that. However, I have some physical problems, I have an injury that is nagging me that I would like to get rid of.”

In the meantime, he had also joked about his time away from the courts, “Now I have some free time, so I like to see other sports as well.” His start to the season has been short so far: after reaching the final at the Australian Open, where he beat Jannik Sinner in a very intense semifinal, Djokovic has only played Indian Wells, stopping in the round of 16.