Djokovic pulls out of Cincinnati Open

 Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, the final warm-up tournament before the US Open.

It marks the second straight year that the Serbian has withdrawn from the event, and means that he will not have played a competitive match between his loss to eventual champion, Jannik Sinner, in the Wimbledon semi-finals and the start of the US Open – a gap of almost a month and a half.

A spokesperson for the Cin­cinnati Open, which begins on August 7, confirmed that Djokovic had withdrawn. He also withdrew from this month’s Canadian Open, another Masters 1000 event, which is currently underway.

In recent years, Djokovic ranked the world No 6 has opted for a fairly sparse calendar, choosing to preserve his body and aim to peak for the grand slam tournaments as he searches for a 25th major title.

This time last year, he withdrew from Cincinnati after winning Olympic gold, the one significant title that had eluded him through­out his career, and did not play between his Paris triumph and the US Open. He suffered a surprise defeat in the third round in New York to Alexei Popyrin.

A lack of match sharpness has not been a major issue for him this season so far: Djokovic did not play between reaching the semi-finals at the French Open, when he also lost to Sinner, and Wimbledon, but produced a fine run to make the last four again.

He has not won a grand slam since the 2023 US Open, with Sin­ner and Carlos Alcaraz winning the last seven majors between them. Sinner is the defending champion in New York.

Djokovic will most likely be in action next at the revamped mixed doubles tournament at the US Open, which takes place in the week before the singles main draw begins. He has been granted a wildcard spot in the 16-strong draw alongside compatriot Olga Danilovic.-independent  

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