DJOKOVIC OUT OF MONTE CARLO!!!!

I only have this French link at the moment, but I believe he's also been on Twitter to break the news.

Apparently, its because of the knee which he wants to rest and he also wants to be 100% fit to face Rafa on clay. Sad news for the competition (and us that are going!), and I hope he recovers soon. Too often a massive exertion full of success results in a minor setback.

Get well soon, Novak!

EDIT ... its now on SkySports

I know Novak has been wearing that strapping on his knee ... since when? Did he have it at the AO? He certainly had it in the US, but I never knew to what extent there was any injury.

I think it just goes to show the level of effort and toil it takes on the body to be successful and consistently reach tournament finals, particularly on hardcourts.

What's the answer?

"I know Novak has been wearing that strapping on his knee ... since when? Did he have it at the AO?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I believe he's been wearing it since Dubai.

Well, if he needs rest, I guess that's a good decision... Though I'll miss him.

Maybe he doesn't want to get beaten just yet.

Well, he obviously won't face a penalty as MC is optional, but it would have been an opportunity to make some points.

With the last two finals he has played against Rafa Im not in the slightest bit surprised. He has also developed a highly physical game and his body will surely succomb to the same kind of injuries as Rafa´s has. I hope this is not a sign of things to come for his sake. Get better soon Nole.

Sensible decision. MC isn't compulsory, and if he's starting to develop an injury it's best to rest it while he can rather than risk aggravating it and failing to make it through the season as a result. To be honest, since he's already won a 500, and has the Davis Cup points, it's highly unlikely he would have made a great deal of points at MC anyways. (Bearing in mind that Monte Carlo essentially acts as 2 ATP500's in the points system, as opposed to a Masters).

Unless something goes seriously wrong then he'll be year end number one, so skipping this to ensure future participation is the most sensible thing he can do.

Unless something goes seriously wrong then he'll be year end number one, so skipping this to ensure future participation is the most sensible thing he can do.

Bookmarked, TITN.

Wooffie wrote:

Unless something goes seriously wrong then he'll be year end number one, so skipping this to ensure future participation is the most sensible thing he can do.

Bookmarked, TITN.

It's a fairly safe comment to be honest when you look at the way the points have gone and are likely to go. It takes near as makes no difference 11,000 points to be the number 1. Djokovic thus far has accrued just shy of 5000, almost halfway there, and there is still 8 months to play. Still 3 slams, 7 Masters (one of which he misses), 2 ATP500's and 2 ATP 250's he can add to the tally in that time.

Basically, the points pan out like so:

Djokovics current points this year: 4925

If Djokovic wins everything else this year, he finishes on about 19,500 points. I'm sure we'll all agree this won't happen.

However, looking at the alternatives, you start to see how relatively easy Novak's made it for himself with his stunning early form. Say he is a semi-finalist in all tournaments, he still ends on just about 10,000 points. That's the result of him failing to win, or make the final of another tournament (albeit being consistent in the process). He makes either another slam final or 2 masters finals and that total is pretty much at the 11,000 mark. It's the fact he doesn't really need to win anything else to be at the summit come December, whereas Nadal does, that makes this scenario rather likely, injury and reasonable form permitting.

Hence my comment 'should something go seriously wrong'.

Yes, Novak made the right call. His best chance against Nadal would come in Rome or Madrid. Plus I think he wants to play and win his hometown tournament since he owns a stake in it and his presence insures the financial viability of the Belgrade tourney. Djokovic has been pretty durable playing 80 or so matches a year for the last few years. So I am not too concerned, of the top players he has been the healthiest over the last three or 4 seasons. He trains really well, and this is just another sign of maturity and taking care of his body. I don't think he wants to break down before the what should be the best part of the season for him, which is from end of wimbeldon onto the year end championships.