Djokovic announces Paris Masters withdrawal

PARIS — Novak Djokovic said Wednesday he is withdrawing from the Paris Masters, where he is a seven-time champion, in a move which could potentially signal the end of his roller-coaster season.

This year's Paris Masters takes place from Oct 28 to Nov 3.

"Unfortunately, I won't be playing the Paris Masters this year," the 37-year-old Djokovic wrote on Instagram.

"I have a lot of great memories, winning seven titles, and I hope to be back with you next year. Sorry to everyone who was hoping to see me there."

Djokovic, who is the defending champion in Paris, has won a record 40 Masters titles in his career along with his 24 Grand Slam titles.

His 2024 season has yielded one title — his emotional Olympic gold medal in Paris in August — and he is currently marooned on 99 career trophies.

This season, he has been deposed as Grand Slam king by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Italy's Sinner claimed the Australian and US Open titles, and also snatched Djokovic's world No 1 ranking.

Alcaraz swept him off court in the Wimbledon final, not long after succeeding him as French Open champion, although Djokovic gained a measure of revenge with victory over the 21-year-old Spaniard in the Olympic final.

For the first time since 2017, Djokovic will end the season without a Grand Slam title.

He is still in contention to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin next month.

He is currently sixth in the race for the showpiece tournament's eight-man field, but could be overtaken by a number of players.

Djokovic has recently seen his long-time rival Rafael Nadal announce his intention to retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga next month.

However, the Serb insists he has no intention of following the 38-year-old Spaniard to the exit door, despite enduring, by his own admission, "one of the worst-performing seasons in terms of results".

"I don't know what the future brings, I'll just try to kind of go with the flow to see how I feel in a given moment, but I still plan to compete and play next season," Djokovic said after losing to Sinner in the recent Shanghai Masters final.

That loss was his third in his last four clashes against the Italian.

Djokovic also said he is not driven by joining Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer as the only men to win 100 titles.

"It's not a live-or-die type of goal for me, I think I've achieved all of my biggest goals in my career," he said.

"Right now, it's really about Slams and about still seeing how far I can kind of push the bar for myself."

AFP