Novak Djokovic to miss another big event due to ‘extremely inconvenient date’
Serbia’s hopes of calling on Novak Djokovic for their Davis Cup trip to Santiago have been dashed, as the tennis great has made himself unavailable for selection for the tie against Chile.
Following their early exit from the 2025 Davis Cup qualifiers, Serbia will have to start their campaign in the first round again and they have been given a tough opening assignment as they have to travel to South America.
The 13th seeds will take on Chile on the clay in Santiago with the rubber scheduled for February 6-8, which is only a few days after the Australian Open final at Melbourne Park.
Serbia’s Davis Cup captain Viktor Troicki was hopeful that he would have the 24-time Grand Slam winner in the squad, but the quick turnaround from the hard courts in Australia to the clay in Chile was always going to be a problem.
Should Djokovic reach the final of the season-opening Grand Slam on February 1, he would have no time to celebrate as he would have to immediately fly to South America.
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Troicki told Sport Klub: “It’s an extremely inconvenient date for him. We all hope he performs well and goes far in the Australian Open.
“It wasn’t realistic to expect him to fly to Chile from Melbourne immediately after the exhausting Grand Slam to change surfaces and be with us this time.”
Although Djokovic insists “my main priorities are playing for the national team and Slams”, he also missed Serbia’s 3-2 loss against Norway last February
The former world No 1 has played a very limited schedule in recent years and he will continue with that policy in 2026 as he has confirmed he won’t play any warm-up events before the Australian Open after withdrawing from the Adelaide International as he is not yet “physically” ready to compete.
Besides not being match fit, Djokovic – whose last competitive match was the final of the Hellenic Championships on November 8 – also no longer has age on his side as he will turn 39 in May and will no doubt continue take extended breaks after the exertions of a two-week Grand Slam.
Besides Djokovic, Serbia will also be without Miomir Kecmanovic and Laszlo Đere with ATP regulars Hamad Medjedovic and Dusan Lajovic, and youngsters Ognjen Milic, and twins Ivan and Matej Sabanov named in the squad for the trip to Latin America.
