Novak Djokovic Madrid Open 2024 withdrawal: Should we be worried?

Novak Djokovic recently announced his decision to withdraw from the upcoming Madrid Open which is scheduled to take place from April 24 to May 5.

The World No.1 was supposed to be the top seed at the second clay-court Masters of the year, a position which now goes to World No.2 Jannik Sinner. While this is Djokovic's second withdrawal from a tournament this year (following his decision to do the same before the Miami Open), he has not given any clear reason for his absence from Madrid where he has triumphed thrice in his career - 2011, 2016 and 2019.

Following Djokovic's decision to pull out from the tournament, the organizers have named Frenchman Luca Van Assche to replace the Serb at Caja Magica, a development that came in almost a day before the making of the draw.

Djokovic has previously skipped the Madrid Open in favor of the Rome Masters in 2021 and 2023, following which he won the French Open on both occasions. Hence while the Serb's decision to skip the tournament might work out in his favor, the lack of match practice since he skipped two important tournaments accompanied by a title-less season so far, makes it rather hard to predict his performance at Roland Garros.

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Novak Djokovic's 2024 tennis season so far

While choosing Rome over Madrid might help Novak Djokovic save his energy for the French Open, the lack of match practice especially in the context of his not-so-exciting start of the tennis season raises concerns.

Four months into the year, Djokovic has only played four tournaments so far, namely the United Cup, Australian Open, Indian Wells Open, and Monte Carlo Masters, leaving comparatively fewer opportunities for the Serb to add more titles to his list of accomplishments.

Novak Djokovic after losing the semifinal to Casper Ruud in Monte Carlo

While he has been vocal about his strategy with regards to focusing on Grand Slams and giving enough time and attention to his body, to be fit to play in tournaments that he does end up taking part in, the result so far does not seem to be as favorable. This is also supported by the fact that despite his attempts to make informed decisions and careful calls, Djokovic has not been able to reach even the finals of the tournaments he has participated in so far.

After losing the semifinal to Casper Ruud in Monte Carlo, speaking about his title drought in 2024, Djokovic said (via Tennis 365):

“I’m used to really high standards in terms of expectations of the results, so not having a title is, maybe comparing to the last 15 years, not a great season at all."

Djokovic added:

“I had semis of Australia, semis here. I only played three tournaments this year, so of course, you know, it’s normal to expect that you have some seasons where you don’t start well, and this is the one."

With an 11- 4 win-loss record so far and the lack of titles four months into the season, Djokovic's trajectory mirrors the title drought he experienced back in 2018 and then in 2022, the former ending with the Serb winning the Wimbledon Championship and the latter with a victory at Rome.

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Concerns associated with Novak Djokovic's withdrawal

Despite the absence of any concrete results in the forms of cups and trophies, Novak Djokovic has maintained his position as World No.1, creating the record of holding the said position for the longest duration of 405 weeks and being the oldest one at 36 years of age.

However, the shift to narrowing his focus and holding himself back from participating in tournaments raises concerns about being unprepared for the majors, Djokovic so rightly wishes to focus on and his inability to get through the new generation of tennis talent that exists in the form of people like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, amongst others.

According to American tennis player, Andy Roddick, Djokovic does need to play more matches before competing at the Roland Garros in May. In continuation to the same, as part of a recent episode of his Served with Andy Roddick podcast, the former World No.1 said (at 11:22):

"He needs to play more tennis going to Roland Garros. He knows better than anyone how to manage this part of the year. He's kind of slowly ramped up the claycourt season to get to a Roland Garros title a couple of times, including last year."

While on one hand, Djokovic has made records to be reckoned with this season and cleared doubts about his thirst for more titles, his decisions to withdraw from tournaments such as the Madrid Open do amount to concerns and speculations regarding the road that lies ahead for the Serb.