Novak Djokovic Withdraws From 2025 Italian Open In Rome

Novak Djokovic won't compete at the 2025 Italian Open in Rome after he announced his withdrawal more than a week prior to the tournament start.

Djokovic is one of the most successful tennis players in the history of the Italian Open. He is a six-time champion, which is an incredibly respectable feat, considering that Rafael Nadal has won 10 titles in Rome.

This year, the Serbian player was set to enter the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in the Italian capital on a three-match losing streak after losing matches in Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Madrid. In fact, Djokovic has yet to win a match on clay in 2025.

It seemed that the Italian Open, which starts on May 7th, would be a perfect place for the 37-year-old to record his first win of the season on the red dirt, but that won't happen. More than a week before the tournament start, Djokovic announced his withdrawal.

It will be the first time since Djokovic first played the tournament in 2006 that he won't take part in the Italian Open, which just shows how concerning his withdrawal is. The Italian Open is a perfect tournament for players to prepare for the French Open, and Djokovic must have a very good reason to miss it.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion hasn't spoken about any injuries recently, but it's possible that he has experienced some setback during his preparations.

At the same time, there is also a possibility that he wants to choose a different approach ahead of this year's Roland Garros. At the start of the season, Djokovic said that he wants to play more matches, but that hasn't worked well for him so far.

Therefore, it's possible that instead of playing in Rome, Djokovic might spend a couple more weeks practicing. On top of that, there is still a chance he might appear on the tennis courts before the start of the clay-court Grand Slam.

There are two tournaments running in the week prior to Roland Garros, and Djokovic might accept a wild card to one of them. It would be unusual to see him compete the week before the Grand Slam, but at 37, he might need to try anything that he thinks might help him succeed.

Djokovic's withdrawal is also disappointing for the tournament organizers. The most successful tennis player in the history of the sport won't compete in the Italian capital, and the current ATP World No. 3, Carlos Alcaraz, is also in doubt. Alcaraz injured himself in the Barcelona Open final and subsequently withdrew from the Madrid Open.

Luckily for the tournament organizers, their home star and current World No. 1, Jannik Sinner, will return from his three-month doping suspension at the Italian Open, giving fans plenty of reasons to buy tickets.