Novak Djokovic withdraws from Cincinnati to recover from ‘taxing journey’

Cincinnati is the top tournament ahead of the last Grand Slam of the season, the US Open, which starts later this month.

New York: World No. 1 tennis player, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, had withdrawn from the Cincinnati Western & Southern Open — the ATP Masters 1000 tournament — to “recover” and “recuperate” from a “taxing journey from Australia to Tokyo”.

Djokovic has been playing non-stop on the Tour, winning the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon. The Serbian was aiming for a “Golden Slam” and had competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games but lost to world No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany in the semifinals, ending his dream of an Olympic gold medal.

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Competing in the bronze-medal match, Djokovic lost to Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain and later withdrew from the mixed doubles bronze-medal match at the Olympics due to a left shoulder injury.

Cincinnati is the top tournament ahead of the last Grand Slam of the season, the US Open, which starts later this month.

Djokovic posted a note to his fans on social media after the announcement.

“Dear fans, I wanted to share with you that I am taking a bit longer to recover and recuperate after quite a taxing journey from Australia to Tokyo. Sadly, that means I won’t be ready to compete in Cincinnati this year, so I’ll turn my focus and attention to the US Open and spend some more time with family. See you in New York soon!” said Djokovic.

❤️ @CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/J1N19eKOp4

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) August 9, 2021

Djokovic has won the Cincinnati Western & Southern Open twice. In 2018, the Serbian completed the Career Golden Masters in Cincinnati. He also triumphed last year, when the event was held in New York at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World No. 1 has won the season’s first three majors at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Djokovic will try to become the first man to complete the calendar-year Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.

The 34-year-old is 38-5 in 2021. The Western & Southern Open will be played from 15-22 August.

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