By Victor Kanayo
Serbian Tennis Star, Novak Djokovic, will be missing in action at the upcoming Madrid Open.
This was disclosed by the tournament organisers via their social media account on Saturday, few days after Rafael Nadal announced his withdrawal.
They however, wished him speedy recovery, indicating that the serial champion is injured or sick.
The development is coming about one month to French Open expected to kickoff, May 28 in Paris.
He had lost in the second round of recently held Monte Carlo, to Lorenzo Musetti.
The Serbian later on decamped to Bosnia and the Banja Luka ATP 250 event, but spoke in the build-up about the injury problems he was dealing with.
He won that first match against Luca Van Assche, but then was knocked out by compatriot Dusan Lajovic in the quarter-final.
He played in Dubai – losing in the semi-finals to Daniil Medvedev – before missing the ‘Sunshine Swing’ Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami, due to not being allowed into the US as a result of his Covid-19 vaccination status.
The clay-court event in the Spanish capital, will now be without both Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, the latter announcing his own withdrawal on Thursday.
The French Open at Roland-Garros – the next chance for Djokovic and Nadal to add to their major tallies of 22 each.
The main draw for the event runs from April 26 to May 7.
Djokovic began the 2023 season with a bang, winning the Adelaide 1 tournament and then backing that up by claiming his 22nd major at the Australian Open despite playing with a hamstring problem.
