After suffering a surprising defeat in the third round of Indian Wells to 123rd ranked Luca Nardi, Novak Djokovic withdrew from the Miami Open, one of the biggest tournaments on the circuit.
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The athlete commented on his performance at a press conference, regretted the lack of titles this year, and said that he should only focus on Grand Slams and Paris 2024.
Djokovic said he was impressed by his poor performance against 20-year-old Italian Luca Nardi, which eliminated him from the Californian competition.
“He deserved to win. I was more surprised by my level. I was very, very bad. These two things came together. He was having a great day, and I was having a terrible one. It resulted in something negative for me”, lamented the star.
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As a result, this is the second consecutive year that the world number 1 will be absent from the Masters 1000 in Miami, starting on March 22nd.
In 2023, the Serb was unable to participate in the tournament because he had not been vaccinated against Covid-19. Djokovic, who already has six titles in the competition, is only expected to return to the circuit for the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, France, in April.
Unlike the previous year, in 2024, the winner of 24 Grand Slams has not yet won any title and spoke about the negative phase.
“No titles this year. It’s something I’m not used to. I started the seasons almost my entire career by winning a Grand Slam, or the Dubai tournament. But that’s okay, it’s part of the sport, you have to accept it. Some you win , others you lose. With luck, I will win some more”, he commented.
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