Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the upcoming Cincinnati Masters to give himself more time to recover from his triumph at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 37-year-old conquered Carlos Alcaraz in an amazing two-set final at the Paris Games on Sunday to claim his first-ever gold medal.
Djokovic pulled out of the Canadian Open while still competing in Paris, with the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal starting just two days after the gold medal match at Stade Roland Garros.
It has since been confirmed that the Serbian will also miss the second Masters event of the North American hard-court season in Cincinnati, which will run from August 13-19.
The current world No 2 won his third title at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati last year, beating Alcaraz in an epic three-set championship match.
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“We certainly understand that it is a quick turnaround from his Olympic triumph to come to Cincinnati,” said tournament director Bob Moran in a statement.
“His title run here last year was so memorable. We are eager to see him on court again soon.”
Djokovic’s withdrawal from Cincinnati means he will not play a hard-court tournament before the 2024 US Open, which begins on August 26.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion also opted to skip both the Canadian Open and Cincinnati in 2021 after that year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Speaking on Tennis Channel, former doubles world No 1 Pam Shriver gave her reaction to Djokovic’s decision to miss Cincinnati.
“No surprise at all,” said the 22-time Grand Slam doubles champion.
“Actually in the middle of the gold medal match, when I saw the level and what he put into it, the emotions afterwards, one of the things I thought of was, ‘Nope, we’re not gonna see him again until US Open’.
“I think it makes total sense, he’s saving his body, he’s managing it. Good decision. Even though it was the most memorable two out of three [set] match last year – that marathon final against [Carlos] Alcaraz.”
Former world No 11 Sam Querrey also gave his thoughts: “Yeah, not surprising at all.
“I mean the emotion that spewed out of him after that gold medal, anyone needs five to six weeks to recover rom that type of emotion, so no surprise here.
“But I expect him to be ready to go at the US Open and honestly I feel like he’s gonna be at the US Open just playing with house money.
“He’s accomplished everything there is to accomplish. I think he’s gonna be relaxed, kind of as loose as ever. He’s gonna be even more dangerous in New York.”
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