Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the 2025 Cincinnati Open, and the tennis great’s absence could have an impact on his ranking ahead of the US Open.
It was revealed on Monday that Djokovic had withdrawn from the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, which will be held from August 7-18.
Djokovic, who also missed the ongoing Canadian Open ATP event in Toronto, has not revealed the reason for his absence at both of the big pre-US Open tournaments.
It is possible, though, that Djokovic has not recovered from the injury that hampered him in his straight-set Wimbledon semi-final defeat to world No 1 Jannik Sinner last month.
The Serbian appeared to injure himself when he suffered a nasty fall on match point of his Wimbledon quarter-final win over Flavio Cobolli, although he did not reveal the specific nature of the issue he was dealing with after losing to Sinner.
“Honestly, wasn’t really a pleasant feeling on the court,” Djokovic said during his post-match press conference.
“I don’t want to talk, in details, about my injury and just whine about not managing to play my best. I want to congratulate Jannik for another great performance. That’s it. He’s in the finals. He was too strong.
“I do feel, yeah, disappointed that I just wasn’t able to move as well as I thought or hoped that I would.”
This will be the fourth time in the last five years that Djokovic will miss both the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open.
Djokovic has not played in Canada since 2018, while he won the Cincinnati title in 2023 in his only appearance at the event since 2020.
Given that he also skipped Cincinnati in 2024 following his gold medal triumph at last year’s Paris Olympics, Djokovic is not defending any points at the Masters event.
Djokovic currently sits sixth in the rankings on 4,130 points, and he could be overtaken before the US Open.
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The 38-year-old is 610 points clear of seventh-placed Ben Shelton and 650 points above eighth-placed Alex de Minaur in the Live ATP Rankings.
While this is a healthy lead, both Shelton and de Minaur are still in action in Toronto — where they will face each other in the quarter-finals.
The winner of that match will cut the gap to Djokovic, and a run to the final would see them make significant progress. If either Shelton or de Minaur wins the Canadian Open, they will take the world No 6 spot from Djokovic.
Shelton and de Minaur will then have opportunities to collect further points in Cincinnati.
Having reached the quarter-finals in Cincinnati last year, Shelton is defending 200 points, which means he would need a very deep run to pass Djokovic (unless he wins the Toronto title).
De Minaur, though, is not defending any points having missed last year’s tournament, giving him a big chance to make up ground.
Even if Djokovic were to be overtaken by both Shelton and Musetti after Cincinnati, though, he is highly unlikely to be seeded any lower than eighth at the US Open.
Players seeded between fifth and eighth at a Grand Slam are projected to face a top four seed in the quarter-finals.
Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz make up the current top four, and they will not be displaced before the New York major.
Djokovic will aim to become the oldest Grand Slam singles champion in history at the US Open, having won his record-extending 24th major at Flushing Meadows in 2023.
The post How Novak Djokovic’s Cincinnati Open withdrawal could affect his ranking before the US Open appeared first on Tennis365.
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