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Novak Djokovic's poor form in 2024 has come in for scrutiny with fans stating that it is quite hard to believe that the Serbian legend is yet to win a title before the start of the clay court season. Djokovic has now reportedly pulled out of the Miami Open that runs from March 17th to March 31st.
The clay court season will start after the Miami Open. The 24-time Grand Slam champion is yet to win a title this year. He skipped the Middle East swing before returning to Indian Wells where he was stunned by Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi in the third round.
"It does feel truly weird that we're going to enter the clay season without Novak Djokovic having won a title yet this year," a fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
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Fans pointed out that Novak Djokovic, who is World No. 1, hasn't played in too many tournaments and that he didn't show much interest at Indian Wells.
"Well he didn’t play most of them. And Indian wells he seemed disinterested anyway," another fan said.
"Weirder still that he has only played two tournaments," a third fan noted.
Fans said that it was good to see the younger generation of players coming up in a big way at major tournaments.
"It’s a great finally to see a new generation coming to the fore, and amazing how the top players had to age before it happened," a fan observed.
Here are some more reactions from fans:
Novak Djokovic has played only three tournaments in 2024
Novak Djokovic has had a lacklustre start to the 2024 season. He has played only in three tournaments so far - the United Cup, a global men's and women's team event in Australia, the Australian Open and the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Djokovic won his first two matches for Serbia at the United Cup. He beat Zhang Zhizhen of China and Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic at the tournament. But he lost in straight sets to Alex de Minaur of Australia in the quarterfinals of the United Cup as he struggled with problems on his wrist.
Djokovic, who was the defending champion at the Australian Open where he has won a record 10 titles, lost to Jannik Sinner of Italy in four sets in the semifinals. It was his first ever loss in a semifinal in Melbourne (previously he was 10-0 in the semifinals and 20-0 in the semifinals and finals). Sinner went on to win the Australian Open for the first time.
Djokovic defeated Aleksander Vukic of Australia in three sets to open his Indian Wells campaign. But he lost to Nardi who became the lowest ranked player to beat the Serb at a Masters 1000 tournament or Grand Slam in his career.
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