Novak Djokovic is all set to return to U.S soil for the first time in two years as he revealed Cincinnati Masters 1000 as his only plan for preparation for the 2023 US Open. But on Tuesday, Djokovic left tennis world surprised when he made a new addition to his plans for the final Grand Slam of the calendar year just days after raising health concerns post that heartbreaking loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.
Djokovic has his name in the entry list for the first Masters 1000 event of the US Open tune-up – Rogers Cup in Toronto – but he announced his withdrawal from the event last week citing fatigue, thereby extending his stay away from tennis action since that five-setter loss at the SW19 a little over a fortnight back. However, he still had his intentions for an appearance in the Cincinnati Masters, which he had earlier revealed as the only tournament he would appear before heading towards the Flushing Meadows in New York.
On Tuesday, the Serb took everyone by surprise when he announced that in addition to the singles event, he will also compete in the doubles category alongside compatriot Nikola Cacic, who is presently ranked 57 in the world and has won three ATP titles in his career – Chengdu 2019, Montpellier 2020 and Buenos Aires 2021. Djokovic, meanwhile, has only one ATP doubles title to show, which he had won 13 years back at the AEGON Championships and has a career record of 62 wins and 77 losses
This will be the third time that Djokovic will be pairing with Cacic for doubles, but all them happened representing Serbia in team events. The first was in 2021 in ATP Cup (lost to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff and Alexander Zverev), followed by two in 2022 Davis Cup where they lost to German pair of Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz before beating Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
Djokovic has been more a handful of appearances in the doubles category in recent times – with Vasek Pospisil (Adelaide 1 in 2023), Erlich (Tel Aviv in 2022), Filip Krajinovic (Paris Masters 1000 in 2021), Carlos Gomez- Herrera (Mallorca in 2021, finalists) and Marin Cilic (Dubai in 2020). At the Cincinnati Masters, it will be his third appearance in the category, the last being in 2019, where he had suffered a first-round exit alongside compatriot Janko Tipsarević. He had however reached the quarters in Cincinnati back in 2007 with Nenad Zimonjić as his partner.
The doubles entry list at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters also features Andrey Rublev/Max Purcell, Hubert Hurkacz/Mektic Pavic, Alexander Bublik/Adrian Mannarino and Stefanos Tsitsipas/Davidovich Fokina as well.
Return to U.S soil
Djokovic had missed last year’s North American hardcourt swing owing to his stance on Covid vaccination with disallowed him entry into America as per the rules of the government for international travellers. It in fact saw him miss the 2022 US Open as well.
Djokovic has won the US Open trophy thrice in his career, the last being in 2018. He did have the chance in 2021 when he had reached the final with a win away from a monumental Calendar Slam before losing in straight sets to Daniil Medvedev. Overall, he has a 81-13 record in New York with eight finals and 12 appearances in semi-final.
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