Tennis great Jim Courier has described Novak Djokovic’s decision to withdraw from the Italian Open as “troubling” and “worrying.”
Djokovic pulled out of the prestigious tournament in Rome, which is the third and final Masters 1000 event of the clay season, on Tuesday.
It ends a run of 18 consecutive appearances at the Italian Open for Djokovic, who is a six-time champion. The last time the Serbian did not feature in the main draw of the tournament was 2006, when he lost in the qualifying draw as an 18-year-old.
The 37-year-old’s surprise decision comes after he lost 6-3, 6-4 to Matteo Arnaldi in his first match at the Madrid Open last week.
It was a third consecutive straight-set loss for Djokovic, who was beaten by Alejandro Tabilo in his opening match at the Monte Carlo Masters and Jakub Mensik in the Miami Open final.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner will, therefore, enter the French Open with a 0-2 record on clay this year — unless he adds an event to his schedule in between Rome and the Paris major.
On Tennis Channel, Courier struggled to make sense of Djokovic’s decision and found the timing of the announcement “very strange.”
“Has he listed a reason why? That’s troubling, that’s worrying for me as a Novak fan,” said the four-time major champion.
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“It’s worrying because that’s the best place to get ready for Roland Garros, the conditions are very similar, it’s back at sea level.
“If you’re gonna play one between Madrid and Rome, Rome would be the one you’d want to play to get ready for Roland Garros.
“So I don’t know what to make of it, but I don’t like the way it feels in the gut.
“Definitely concerned, it’s a very strange thing to announce to pull out now, well in advance of it. And we’ll see what it all means when we get to Roland Garros.”
Tracy Austin, a former world No 1 and two-time US Open champion, also weighed in.
“He (Djokovic) has lost his last three matches in a row, all in straight sets,” said the American. “He hasn’t won a clay-court match this year, early in Monte Carlo, early here [in Madrid] as well.
“And he just looked a little out of balance, his footwork wasn’t great in his loss the other day against Arnaldi, and he even said, ‘My reality right now is trying to win a match or two.’ And that’s really tough for a guy who’s won 24 majors to be talking like that.”
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