According to Sam Goodwin of Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday, world number one Novak Djokovic of Belgrade, Serbia has decided to withdraw from the 2021 Madrid Open, which is to start on Sunday from Spain. Now that Djokovic is no longer participating, five-time Madrid Open champion Rafael Nadal of Spain becomes the number one seed.
Djokovic did not give a reason for his absence. The 33-year-old has won the Madrid Open thrice in the past. He beat Nadal 7-5, 6-4 in the 2011 Madrid Open Final, Andy Murray of Great Britain 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the 2016 Madrid Open Final, and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-3, 6-4 in the 2019 Madrid Open Final.
The 2019 Madrid Open was the last time the tournament took place in Madrid. The tournament was outright cancelled in 2020 because of coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the clay-court portion of the 2021 tennis season has not gone well for Djokovic. He lost in the third round to Dan Evans of Great Britain, 6-4, 7-5 at the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco earlier this month, and then was upset by rising Russian star Aslan Karatsev in the semifinals of the Serbia Open last week, by a score of 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Matteo Berrettini of Italy went on to beat Karatsev in the final, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6. In the third set tiebreak, Berrettini bageled Karatsev 7-0.
The fact that Djokovic did not win his home tournament in Serbia was rather surprising due to the fact he had home-court advantage, and the fact he is the only player to have won the Serbia Open on multiple occasions. He beat Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-3, 7-6 in 2009, and Feliciano Lopez of Spain, 7-6, 6-2 in 2011. The Serbia Open did not take place from 2013 to 2020.
