TENNIS – Novak Djokovic has pulled out from the Madrid Mutua Open, a Master 1000 Tournament, that starts on Sunday at the Caja Magica to prepare for the Internazionali d’Italia which starts on 10th May. Diego Sampaolo
Djokovic, who won the Madrid Open in his magic 2011 season, will miss the Spanish tournament for the second consecutive year.
Reports of his withdrawal were first reported by Spanish newspaper Marca earlier this week. He decided to skip Madrid, a tournament held in altitude conditions that are so different from those found in Rome and Paris.
Although Madrid is a Mandatory Master 1000 Tournament, Djokovic has been given an exemption under the ATP rules which allow him to skip a mandatory tournament given his length of service on the circuit.
The ATP rules allow a player to skip one mandatory tournament if he has:
-1 Played more than 600 matches in his career
-2 A tour veteran of at least 12 years
-3 Or reaches the age of 31
He took the decision to skip Madrid to continue his preparation for the Roland Garros, the only Grand Slam title missing from his trophy cabinet. He lost two finals in the French Open against Nadal. After winning the Australian Open the World Number 1 has still a chance to complete the Career Grand Slam, a realistic goal after an impressive start to his 2015 season in which he became the first player in history to win the first three Master 1000 tournaments of the season (Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo). With his latest triumph in the Principality Djokovic has won 23 Master 1000 Tournaments tying Roger Federer
After Djokovic’s withdrawal Federer will be the top-seed of the Madrid Open.
