Novak Djokovic signed up to play doubles at the 2023 Paris Masters, alongside his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic, but the two are facing a last-minute opponent change.
After the doubles draw for the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year came out, fans were looking forward to a spectacular first-round match. Jannik Sinner was supposed to team up with Stan Wawrinka and take on Novak Djokovic and Miomir Kacmanovic.
However, the Swiss player lost in a late-night showdown against Dominic Thiem on Monday, a match that finished at 2:21 AM local time. Considering all the duties that a player has after a match, Wawrinka probably came to his hotel room at around 3 or 4 AM.
If the three-time Grand Slam champion wanted to get a healthy amount of eight hours of sleep, it makes it practically impossible for him to be on the court at around 3 PM the next day, considering he has to eat, prepare, and do many other things.
As a result, the Swiss-Italian duo withdrew from the doubles draw, giving a chance to another doubles pairing, this time a team that focuses only on doubles and hoped to get in the draw as lucky losers, Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
For Djokovic and Kecmanovic it will be a very important match, and maybe it will be even better for them that they will play a purely doubles team, rather than two singles players who joined forces.
The reason is quite simple. Most likely, the reason behind the Serbian pairing is their preparation for the Davis Cup Finals Final Eight, where they may need to play doubles together to help their team win the trophy.
Djokovic is determined to do that, and he may be the man that the team may need to help them push through, and doubles may be a crucial match to do that.
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