Author: Chandra Moulee Das
In a recent announcement, it is now known that Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the 2023 Madrid Open. The news comes shortly after his rival and 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal announced his withdrawal from the third Masters 1000 of the year.
After his defeat to Dusan Lajovic in the quarter-finals of the Srpska Open on Friday, the Serbian star revealed that he needed to consider whether or not he would take part in Madrid. The Serbian player expressed his desire to recover properly from his elbow injury before returning to the court. His elbow bothered him throughout the tournament and he was even seen wearing a sleeve over it during matches in Banja Luka.
On Saturday, the entry list for the Masters 1000 competition was updated after Djokovic’s name was removed. Although an official statement from Djokovic’s team is still pending, it is likely that his withdrawal is a precautionary measure due to an elbow injury.
Last year, the 35-year-old reached the semi-finals of the Madrid Open, but lost to Carlos Alcaraz, who went on to win the title. Alcaraz had already beaten Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals, becoming the first player to beat both Nadal and Djokovic in the same clay court event. Before the Banja Luka campaign, Djokovic suffered an unexpected exit in the round of 16 at the Monte-Carlo Masters, indicating a rather poor start to his 2023 clay season.
In a press conference after his quarter-final defeat at the Srpska Open, Djokovic stressed that his main goal was to peak at the French Open. He also mentioned that he started slowly last year, but improved over time and hopes to repeat the same this season.
“It’s no secret that you prepare and train for Roland Garros. The same thing happened last year, I had a very slow start to the tour and started to play better towards the end of the tour” he added.