After the premature eliminations in Monte Carlo and Madrid, Novak Djokovic made a decision that surprised most fans. The former world number 1 announced yesterday that he will not participate in the Rome Masters 1000, the last huge event before Roland Garros.

The Serbian legend has always had a special bond with the Italian crowd – although last year he was hit by a bottle after his first match at the Foro Italico and was booed after his loss to Alejandro Tabilo – but he understood that it would not make sense to participate in the fifth Masters 1000 of the season right now.

Nole’s level on the red clay is too low and his performances against Tabilo in the Principality and Arnaldi in the Spanish capital have altered Novak’s plans, who wants to return home and practice very hard before flying to Paris for the second Major of the season.

The 37-year-old from Belgrade will have almost a month to prepare for the French Open together with his team in the best possible way, hoping that this full-immersion will be enough to achieve a prestigious result in Paris (where he triumphed three times during his legendary career).

Nole surprised everyone

It is no longer a secret that Djokovic struggles a lot to find motivations outside of Grand Slam tournaments and would have risked another very heavy defeat if he had played in Rome in May. The Serbian needs to regain confidence at this stage and Andy Murray’s support will be essential in these weeks to work on different aspects of Nole’s game.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion will have to find some alternative solutions to surprise his opponents in Paris, in the hope that the draw will not be too tough for him.

The best version of Djokovic still scares all opponents and his performances against Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Paris Olympics last summer and in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Australian Open represent a warning to everyone.