DOHA, December 30, 2017

Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, one of three tournaments to officially kick off the 2018 ATP World Tour season. The situation with the Serbian’s elbow has not changed for better since Friday when he was forced to withdraw from the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi.

Djokovic is the defending champion at the ATP 250 event, winning back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017.

The former World No. 1  published the following statement on his official website:

“Unfortunately, the situation with the elbow has not changed for better since yesterday. I still feel the pain. Therefore, I will have to withdraw from ATP tournament in Doha, that has been voted the best 250 tournament in 2017.

I am sorry that I will not be able to play in front of my fans here. I have great memories of this tournament and the matches I played, like the final against Andy from last year. The atmosphere at the stadium is always wonderful, the organization is on the highest level, and I will surely miss it a lot.

However, after the thorough consultations with the medical team, we decided to keep up with the therapies and elbow treatments.

Only when I’m 100% ready to play, I will be able to come back. I hope it will be soon. I want to thank everyone for patience and understanding.”