Novak Djokovic has sparked fears that he may not be fit in time for the US Open by pulling out of the upcoming ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. Djokovic cited a non-medical reason for his withdrawal, according to the ATP, but fans only need to jog their memory back a month to recall the concerning nature of his defeat to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
Djokovic suffered a painful slip in the closing stages of his quarter-final win over Flavio Cobolli at SW19. And it was clear to Sinner, after demolishing Djokovic in straight sets, that there was something amiss with the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
The Italian said in his on-court interview: “We all saw, especially in the third set, that he was a bit injured. He has been in a difficult situation.”
Djokovic has not played competitively since that defeat, and following his withdrawal from the Canadian Open he has also now pulled out of the Cincinnati Open. There have been no injury updates from the Serb’s camp but some are taking Djokovic’s inactivity as a worrying sign three weeks before the year’s final Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows.
The 38-year-old admitted after falling short of his 25th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon that he is struggling to cope with the physical demands of big tournaments in the same way that he used to.
“I guess playing best-of-five, particularly this year, has been a real struggle for me physically,” Djokovic explained. “The longer the tournament goes, the worse the condition gets.
“I reach the final stages, I reached the semis of every Slam this year, but I have to play Sinner or [Carlos] Alcaraz. These guys are fit, young, sharp. I feel like I’m going into the match with the tank half empty. It’s just not possible to win a match like that.”
Djokovic says that preserving his ATP ranking is no longer a priority, and he is now at risk of being overtaken by Katie Boulter’s fiance, Alex de Minuar. The Aussie won the Citi Open last month and is on another good run in Toronto, where he will meet Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals.
Shelton and De Minaur are seventh and eighth respectively in the live rankings, with Djokovic sixth. Either of the quarter-finalists going on to win the title would see them jump ahead of the veteran in the ATP’s pecking order.