Novak Djokovic mentioned Wednesday he’s withdrawing from the Paris Masters, the place he’s a seven-time champion, in a transfer which may probably sign the top of his roller-coaster season.
“Sadly, I received’t be taking part in the Paris Masters this 12 months,” the 37-year-old Djokovic wrote on Instagram.
“I’ve a whole lot of nice recollections, profitable seven titles, and I hope to be again with you subsequent 12 months. Sorry to everybody who hoped to see me there.”
Djokovic, who’s the defending champion in Paris, has received a report 40 Masters titles in his profession, together with 24 Grand Slam titles.
His 2024 season has yielded one title — his emotional Olympic gold medal in Paris in August, and he’s at the moment on 99 profession trophies.
This season, he has been deposed as Grand Slam king by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Italy’s Sinner claimed the Australian and US Open titles and likewise snatched Djokovic’s world number-one rating.
Alcaraz swept him off court docket within the Wimbledon closing after succeeding him as French Open champion, though Djokovic gained a measure of revenge with victory over the 21-year-old Spaniard within the Olympic closing.
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For the primary time since 2017, Djokovic will finish the season with no Grand Slam title.
He’s nonetheless in competition to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin subsequent month.
He’s at the moment sixth within the race for the eight-man area for the showpiece however may very well be overtaken by quite a lot of gamers.
This 12 months’s Paris Masters takes place from October 28 to November 3.
Djokovic has not too long ago seen his long-time rival Rafael Nadal announce his intention to retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga subsequent month.
Nonetheless, the Serb insists he has no intention of following the 38-year-old Spaniard to the exit door regardless of enduring by his personal admission “one of many worst-performing seasons when it comes to outcomes”.
“I don’t know what the long run brings, I’ll simply attempt to form of drift to see how I really feel in a given second, however I nonetheless plan to compete and play subsequent season,” Djokovic mentioned after dropping to Sinner within the latest Shanghai Masters closing.
That loss was his third in his final 4 clashes towards the Italian.
Djokovic additionally mentioned he’s not pushed by becoming a member of Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer as the one males to win 100 titles.
“It’s not a live-or-die sort of purpose for me, I believe I’ve achieved all of my largest objectives in my profession,” he mentioned.
“Proper now, it’s actually about Slams and about nonetheless seeing how far I can form of push the bar for myself.”