Novak Djokovic suffered a shock second round defeat to Dino Prizmic at the Italian Open, leaving his preparations for Roland Garros in tatters.
The Serbian had not played for two months prior to his Italian Open defeat at Indian Wells, losing in the third round to Jack Draper.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has now confirmed that he will not play another clay court event until Roland Garros, despite his early defeat in Rome.
Djokovic played, and won, the ATP 250 event, the Geneva Open last year, which takes place the week prior to Roland Garros, but that will not be the case this year.
Asked in his Italian Open press conference if fans would be able to see him play ahead of the Paris event, Djokovic replied: “No. This year, no. I’ll just go to Paris straight. It’s the decision. It’s the decision.”
Djokovic has previously criticised the ATP Tour schedule, so it should not be a surprise that he’s playing a limited calendar, but it has shocked some pundits.
That is a decision that has left former professional Tracy Austin shocked, and she shared her thoughts on the matter during an appearance on The Tennis Channel.
“I was kind of surprised. He clearly knows what’s best for him. I mean we’re never going to doubt what Novak has to think. But I was surprised that he made such a definitive answer so quickly after losing a match like this because we know that last year he went there, he won the title,” she said.
“He hasn’t played [much]. What he he played, like 10-12 matches this year? Third tournament overall. And I would feel like going into a major, three out of five sets, and you haven’t played since Indian Wells [I think] he’d want at least a few matches.
“That kind of surprised me. There must be a reason why. Maybe he’s not feeling good physically elsewhere. I just don’t know. That surprised me.”
Djokovic defeated Marton Fucsovics, Matteo Arnaldi, Cameron Norrie, and Hubert Hurkacz to win the title in Geneva last season, which was the Serbian’s 100th ATP title of his career.
Matches played by Novak Djokovic in 2026
- Pedro Martinez – W
- Francesco Maestrelli – W
- Botic van de Zandschulp – W
- Jakub Mensik – W
- Lorenzo Musetti – W
- Jannik Sinner – W
- Carlos Alcaraz – L
- Kamil Majchrzak – W
- Aleksandar Kovacevic – W
- Jack Draper – L
- Dino Prizmic – L
The star used the tournament as a warm-up for Roland Garros, which saw him reach the semi-finals of the clay court Grand Slam.
Djokovic was beaten in straight sets by Jannik Sinner at last year’s Roland Garros, and he will be hoping to go two steps further this season with little preparation.
Of course, the Serbian has been here before.
Djokovic didn’t play a warm-up event for this year’s Australian Open, which saw him produce a remarkable run to the final. That included a victory against Sinner in the semi-finals, before his campaign was ended by Carlos Alcaraz.
The tennis icon will be hoping history repeats itself as he looks to claim the 25th major title of his career.
