The 21-time Major winner Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the next week’s Canada Masters in Montreal. The four-time Canada Open winner will not chase the fifth crown in Montreal after not being permitted to enter this country without a vaccine. Novak withdrew a day before the draw and still trains in Montenegro, hoping for some miracle and a chance to enter the US Open. Djokovic is 23-5 this season, competing in two out of three Majors and lifting trophies in Rome and Wimbledon. Novak had to skip the Australian Open after a terrible ten-day saga over his visa, and things did not look good for him then. The Serb suffered early losses in Dubai and Monte Carlo before losing the final at home in Belgrade to Andrey Rublev. Building his form, Djokovic lost an epic battle against Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid semi-final and played on a high level a week later in Rome. The Serb secured the title without losing a set, lifting his 38th Masters 1000 trophy and moving two clear of Rafael Nadal.
Novak Djokovic will miss the Canada Open in Montreal.
Novak was ready for more at Roland Garros, playing as the defending champion in Paris and reaching the quarter-final without losing a set. Djokovic faced his greatest rival in a battle for the semi-final and experienced a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 loss in four hours and 12 minutes. Nadal saved eight out of 12 break chances and turned 43% of the return points into seven breaks from 17 opportunities to forge the advantage. The Spaniard dictated the pace with 57 winners and 43 unforced errors, leaving the Serb on a 48-53 ratio. Djokovic recovered his game in the second set and built a 5-2 advantage in the fourth.
The Serb wasted two set points on serve at 5-3 and dropped the tie break to propel the Spaniard through. Novak threw everything at Wimbledon and secured the seventh All England Club title for his 21st Major crown. Djokovic trailed two sets to love against Jannik Sinner in the quarter-final before performing one of his memorable comebacks to remain on the title course. The Serb took down Cameron Norrie and Nick Kyrgios in four sets to defend the title and move one Wimbledon crown behind Roger Federer. Novak claimed his first title in Canada on his debut in 2007. He added more trophies to his tally in 2011 and 2012, and his last title came in 2016 over Kei Nishikori. Djokovic has played in Canada only once after that, losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-final in 2018.