Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the Italian Open amid a three-match losing streak and months of struggling with his form.
The withdrawal means the 24-time grand slam singles champion will go into the French Open at the end of May without a win on clay this season. He’s won at Roland Garros three times previously – the last of which came in 2023.
The tournaments in Madrid and Rome are often used as warmup events for Roland Garros – a time for players like Djokovic to get into a rhythm on the clay before the second major of the season.
No reason was given for his withdrawal, something that concerns former French Open champion Jim Courier.
“It’s worrying because that’s the best place to get ready for Roland Garros,” Courier said on TCLive. “The conditions are very similar. You’re back at sea level. If you’re going to play one between Madrid and Rome, Rome would be the one you’d would want to play to get ready for Roland Garros.
“It’s a very strange thing to announce a pull-out now, well in advance of it. And we’ll see what it all means when we get to Roland Garros,” Courier added.
It will be Djokovic’s first time since making his main draw debut in 2007 that he won’t be at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
His decision to withdraw comes amid a string of losses. The Serbian most recently fell to world no. 44 Matteo Arnaldi in his opening match of the Madrid Open. Before that, a loss in the Round of 32 to Alejandro Tabilo at the Monte-Carlo Masters in early April.
Djokovic’s best performance this year came in March and gave some hope for a return-to-form. He made it to the final of the Miami Open where he eventually lost to Jakub Menšík. Now, that performance seems more of a blip.
The current world No. 5 was also forced to retire in the semifinal of the Australian Open – the first slam of the season – in January with a leg injury.
It’s a new experience for Djokovic. At a press conference after his defeat to Arnaldi in the Spanish capital, he said, “Kind of a new reality for me, I have to say.
“Trying to win a match or two, you know, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament. It’s a completely different feeling from what I had 20-plus years of professional tennis.
“A challenge for me mentally to face these kind of sensations on the court … but, you know, that’s I guess the circle of life of the career. Eventually, it was going to happen.”
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