Why Novak Djokovic’s Adelaide withdrawal is a worrying sign for his Grand Slam hopes

Ewan West 06 Jan 2026 6:30 PM

Novak Djokovic takes a breather during his match

Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the Adelaide International is a concerning start to the 2026 season for the tennis legend.

The 24-time major champion was set to begin his campaign at the ATP 250 event in Adelaide, which will be held in the week before the Australian Open.

However, Djokovic pulled out of the tournament on Monday and revealed his body is the reason.

“To all my fans in Adelaide. Unfortunately I’m not quite physically ready to compete in the Adelaide International next week,” Djokovic said in a statement.

“It’s personally very disappointing to me as I have such great memories of winning the title there [three] years ago. I was really excited about returning as it truly felt like playing at home.

“My focus is now on my preparation for the Australian Open and I look forward to arriving in Melbourne soon and seeing all the tennis fans in Australia.”

Djokovic will arrive at the year’s first Grand Slam, where main draw action begins on January 18, without having played a match since beating Lorenzo Musetti to win the Athens title on November 8.

Entering the Australian Open without a preparation tournament is, in itself, arguably a blow to Djokovic’s chances as he seeks a record-extending 11th title in Melbourne and a 25th major overall.

The Serbian was troubled by a shoulder injury in Athens, which he cited as his reason for pulling out of the 2025 ATP Finals.

It is unclear whether Djokovic is currently dealing with an injury, but the fact he is not “physically ready” to play in Adelaide is worrying given he has not played a match for two months.

The hope was that the 38-year-old’s body would benefit from the extended break after a 2025 campaign in which he was plagued by physical ailments.

It could be argued that the beginning of the season is when we are likely to see Djokovic in the best physical shape possible at his age.

The 2026 Australian Open could, therefore, be seen as Djokovic’s best opportunity left to win another major as his best version may be harder to find as the season progresses due to the wear and tear accumulated from playing matches.

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Djokovic played some of his best tennis of 2025 at the Australian Open, where he impressed in straight-set wins over Tomas Machac and Jiri Lehecka before his outstanding four-set quarter-final win against Carlos Alcaraz.

He sustained a hamstring injury during the Alcaraz match, though, and was forced to retire in his semi-final against Alexander Zverev.

This proved to be a recurring theme in 2025 as Djokovic was also hampered in his semi-final loss to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon, while he appeared to hit the wall physically in his US Open last four defeat to Alcaraz.

Djokovic’s ability to last the best-of-five set Grand Slam distance remains as big a question as whether he can overcome the dominant Alcaraz and Sinner at the majors in 2026.

There is a school of thought that Djokovic’s limited playing schedule in recent seasons has contributed to his increased number of injuries and physical struggles at the majors.

In October, Tennis365 spoke to Stephen Smith — a leading athlete welfare and injury prevention expert — and asked whether playing more outside the Grand Slams could help Djokovic.

“Absolutely, I think we often see this where player management kicks in and we try to rest our players more and give them more time off,” Smith said.

“And then it turns out that that actually backfires because the physicality of our games, the intensity of our games, regardless of sport today, have only got bigger, faster and stronger.

“And then we end up, we try to rely on, ‘He’s got a lot of miles in the bank, can we just rely on that and pop back in and do less?’

“But you’re still expected to play at the same physicality and the same intensity, you’re still expected to back it up, day after day, in the middle of those big competitions as well. And that takes an enormous toll on your body.

“And if we don’t have that kind of resilience built in, we’re not constantly training to that level, then that can be a huge issue.

“So yes, I do think at times that too much rest and too much recovery can also have a negative impact.”

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