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Novak Djokovic withdraws from Miami Open after shock defeat


Novak Djokovic has elected to skip the upcoming Miami Open, following the world No.1’s shock early exit from Indian Wells this week.

Djokovic confirmed his withdrawal in a statement on social media saying, Hi Miami! Unfortunately I won’t be playing the Miami Open this year. At this stage of my career, I’m balancing my private and professional schedule. I’m sorry that I won’t experience some of the best and most passionate fans in the world. I’m looking fw competing in MI in future!”

This announcement comes after Djokovic was beaten by world No.123 Luca Nardi on Monday night in California, in the Serbian’s first career loss to a lucky loser.

This led to the 24-time Grand Slam champion being cryptic about whether he would compete at the second half of the sunshine double for the first time since 2019.

“For the moment, Miami is there, so let’s see. Let’s see, obviously 10 minutes ago I was on the court, so I’m still hot-headed a bit,” Djokovic said after his loss to Nardi. “I need to take a day or two and then see what I want to do next.”

He continued, “I do play fewer tournaments so I’m more selective with my schedule. Of course, it’s not a great feeling when you drop out very early in the tournament and especially here, I haven’t played five years. I really wanted to do well but wasn’t meant to be. We move on.”

And now the 36-year-old has officially withdrawn from the tournament where he is a record six-time champion, leaving Carlos Alcaraz as the top seed.

Djokovic is next set to play on the ATP Tour at the Monte Carlo Masters, kicking off his clay court season at the Masters 1000 event that begins on Sunday 7th April.

Inside the baseline…

It is not too surprising that Novak Djokovic has decided to miss the Miami Open this year, especially considering the manor of his defeat earlier in the week. Djokovic will probably want to move on from the hard courts for the time being, and move his attention to the clay ahead of his Roland Garros title defence. It will be interesting to see if he can hold onto the world No.1 position in this time, with Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev looking to close the gap.

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.