Not long after Rafael Nadal announced that he would be unable to play at the Mutual Madrid Open, Novak Djokovic also withdrew from the clay-court swing’s second Masters 1000 tournament on Saturday.
Since returning to the tour after missing Masters 1000s in Indian Wells and Miami, Djokovic has been dealing with apparent elbow and shoulder issues. The 35-year-old Serb lost to Lorenzo Musetti in the Monte-Carlo third round and he was upset by compatriot Dusan Lajovic in the Banja Luka quarterfinals on Friday.
Djokovic said prior to his opening match in Banja Luka that his right elbow was “not in an ideal shape.”
After losing to Lajovic, he made it clear that his focus is now on the French Open.
“I hope to get into tip-top shape for Roland Garros,” the world No. 1 explained. “I want to play my best tennis there…. The conditions are totally different there in comparison with Monte-Carlo and Banja Luka. There are still several weeks to practice and play. In the previous seasons I’ve always had an unsatisfying and slow start on clay, and then played better tennis in the final stages.
“I hope to repeat the same pattern this year.”
looks like Alcaraz will win Madrid again
That would be the safe pick. Rune might be able to do it. Who else? I’m waiting for the draws to come out. Lots of names come to mind but Carlitos is the one.
Tennis could surprise us. When I saw how well Pliskova played the first set in Stuttgart, I thought if she kept that up, she would beat Iga. But Iga did not let the match go without a fight.