
Novak Djokovic will not play a tournament in February after deciding not to take a wildcard into the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The announcement came shortly after he helped guide Serbia to a 3-0 win over Russia in their Davis Cup tie. Djokovic participated in the second singles match on Friday, claiming a win over Daniil Medvedev, who retired in the fourth set due to cramps. During that encounter, the world No.2 revealed that he was experiencing discomfort with his shoulder.
“My shoulder hurts. I apologize to the crowd in Nis because it was a bad match. The win is always a win, it’s very important to go through a match like this, it gives me confidence, even if I am sorry for Medvedev because we have a good relationship.” Djokovic said on Friday.
It is unclear how significant the issue is and if it was the reason behind Djokovic’s decision to Skip Dubai, a tournament that he hasn’t missed since 2006. The 14-time champion was recently asked about the severity of the issue by Serbian media, but was reluctant in providing an answer.
“I would not go into the details of my injury.” Blic Sport reported Djokovic as saying. “Almost none of the athletes can not play without pain, but that I will not go into the details.”
In the first two months of the season, Djokovic has played only seven matches on the ATP Tour. At the Doha Open he won his 67th ATP title by overcoming Andy Murray in three sets. Then at the Australian Open, he suffered a shock second round loss to Denis Istomin.
Djokovic currently trails Murray by 1715 points in the race to world No.1 on the Emirates rankings. This gap could increase within the next couple of weeks if Murray wins the Dubai tennis championships.
The 29-year-old will return to action at the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Last year Djokovic defeated Canada’s Milos Raonic in the final to win the tournament for a record fifth time. The event will get underway on March 6th.