Djokovic to skip Serbia’s Davis Cup group stage ties for personal reasons

FILE PHOTO: Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain – July 3, 2022 Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his fourth round match against Netherlands’ Tim van Rijthoven REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

Novak Djokovic will miss Serbia’s Davis Cup Finals group stage matches starting in Valencia next week due to personal reasons, the country’s tennis federation announced on Monday.

The former world number one won Wimbledon to take his Grand Slam singles titles tally to 21 but missed the ongoing US Open as he opted not to be vaccinated against COVID-19, which meant he could not fly to New York for the year’s final major.

Djokovic, 35, was expected to return to action in the men’s premier team event but Serbian captain Viktor Troicki said in a statement posted on the Teniski Savez Srbije website that the player had canceled his participation.

Reuters has reached out to Djokovic’s team seeking comment.

Djokovic’s official website lists the Sept. 23-25 Laver Cup at London’s O2 Arena as his next tournament, followed by an ATP 250 event in Tel Aviv and the Paris Masters in late October.

Serbia has been drawn in Group B alongside Spain, South Korea and Canada.

Two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the quarter-finals of this year’s event with the knockout stages to be held in November in Malaga.