Novak Djokovic will head to the Australian Open without having played a tournament in the lead-up for the first time in eight years. The 24-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from next week’s ATP 250 event in Adelaide, and will head to Melbourne Park without any matches under his belt.
Djokovic, who will turn 39 this May, has been increasingly selective with his schedule in recent years. But he has typically ensured that he’s gone into the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, feeling match fit.
Last year, the world No. 4 entered the Brisbane International, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Reilly Opelka. He got out on the doubles court with Nick Kyrgios, going out in the second round.
In previous seasons, Djokovic has competed in the United Cup, Adelaide International, ATP Cup, and the Qatar Open leading into the Australian Open. He’s also played some exhibition matches in the week before the Aussie Open. But as it stands, Djokovic has no matches scheduled before the Australian Open kicks off on January 18.
The Serbian superstar raised concerns when he released a statement admitting that he “wasn’t quite physically ready to compete” yet as he announced his withdrawal from the Adelaide International.
“To all my fans in Adelaide, unfortunately, I’m not quite physically ready to compete in the Adelaide International next week. It’s personally very disappointing to me as I have such great memories of winning the title there two years ago,” he wrote.
The last time Djokovic did not play an official warm-up tournament before the Australian Open was in 2018. He had ended his 2017 season in July, citing an elbow injury. Djokovic did, however, enter the Kooyong Classic exhibition and won it. He went on to lose to Hyeon Chung in the fourth round of the Aussie Open.
The world No. 4 ended his season on a high when he won the ATP 250 event in Athens at the beginning of November, but has not played since. Djokovic, whose last Grand Slam triumph came at the 2023 US Open, reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments last year.
He retired mid-match in Australia with a leg injury, and lost to either Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz at the other three Majors. Djokovic also did not participate in warm-up events leading up to Wimbledon or the US Open. But his decision not to play going into the Australian Open is more notable, given that he usually starts the season at a smaller tournament.
Djokovic is expected to be seeded fourth in the Australian Open draw, meaning he would not face Sinner or Alcaraz until the semi-finals again. At the US Open, Djokovic admitted he had better chances of beating them in a best-of-three format on the regular tour, rather than in a best-of-five set format at the Slams.
“I do fancy my chances a bit more in best-of-three, I guess, one-week tournaments or the Masters tournaments where you have almost two weeks with quite a few days between matches. So, you know, that could serve me better in the matchups against them,” he said.