The 33-year-old Serbian star won his 18th Grand Slam singles
crown and ninth Australian Open singles title last month.
That puts him third on the all-time men’s list behind the 20
Slam titles owned by Swiss star Federer and Spaniard Nadal, who will try to
defend his French Open title in the next Slam showdown on the red clay of
Roland Garros.
“Dear fans, I’m very sorry to announce that this year I
won’t travel to Miami to compete,” Djokovic tweeted Friday.
Djokovic, a six-time Miami champion, cited the global travel
issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and his desire to balance events and
family life.
“I decided to use this precious time at home to stay with my
family,” he said. “With all restrictions, I need to find balance in my time on
tour and at home. I look forward to coming back next year!”
Federer won the most recent Miami Open title in 2019, his
fourth career trophy at the event, with the tournament being called off last
year due to the outbreak of the deadly virus. He wanted to work on his fitness
ahead of the other majors later this season.
Nadal, a 34-year-old left-hander, has not played since being
ousted from last month’s Australian Open quarter-finals by Greece’s Stefanos
Tsitsipas.
“Sad to announce that I won’t be playing in Miami, a city
that I love,” Nadal tweeted earlier this month. “I need to fully recover and
get ready for the clay-court season in Europe.”
Nadal seeks a fifth consecutive French Open title and 14th
career crown at Roland Garros. He has never won the Miami crown, dropping five
finals.
AFP
0 comments:
Post a Comment