While he may be past his prime, Novak Djokovic‘s hunger to win never seems to end. Having won 24 Grand Slams and countless other accolades, the Serb doesn’t have much to prove to anyone. But he still keeps on going and defeats his opponents with ease on numerous occasions. Though he finds it hard to adapt to the younger players’ contrasting playstyles, he remains determined to establish his supremacy over them.

“I want to kick their a** every day of the week,” he said at the 2026 Fanatics Fest. “But to be honest, when I see them play, you know there’s a contrast in styles with (Roger) Federer and (Rafael) Nadal. You know, really contrasting styles. I showed up as well; three of us were all different.

“And now with (Carlos) Alcaraz and (Jannik) Sinner being the dominant force in tennis. These two guys remind me of myself so much. It’s like I’m playing myself from 10 years ago and 15 years ago, and it kind of hurts me to feel that on the court. I mean, I know how to crack the code, but you know, can I?”

Though Djokovic may be one of the all-time greats, it is clear that age is catching up with him. It has been almost three years since he last won a Grand Slam and almost a year since his last ATP title triumph. On top of this, 2026 has been one of his weakest seasons on the Tour so far.

The 39-year-old has not captured any title and has also struggled with physical issues. This is a big reason why he has only participated in five tournaments so far this season. Notably, Djokovic had sustained a right shoulder injury at the Indian Wells Masters and had remained out of action for almost the next two months.

Though he had come awfully close to clinching his 25th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, Carlos Alcaraz got the better of him in the final. Since then, Djokovic’s best result has been a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon, where Jannik Sinner defeated him in straight-sets. Only a strong performance in the hard-court season will now be able to save the Serb’s season.

It was expected that Djokovic would take a short break after Wimbledon, and that is exactly what he did. He didn’t feature in any of the clay-court events that followed and also didn’t sign up for the Mubadala DC Open, the tournament which marks the beginning of the hard-court swing.

Djokovic was expected to make his return at the Canadian Open, which is set to commence on August 2. His name was present on the Masters 1000 event’s initial entry list, and it appeared that he would make his first appearance in the tournament since 2018. But things wouldn’t end up materializing as expected.

Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the Montreal Masters

The Serb decided to pull out of the event on July 24. Workload management has been cited as the one major reason behind his withdrawal. Likely, he doesn’t want to risk an injury, especially with the US Open being just a month away.

Moreover, Jannik Sinner has also withdrawn from the event. It is not a surprise that he wants to rest before beginning his hard-court season, as he is just coming off a grueling campaign at Wimbledon, where he lifted the coveted title for the second consecutive year.

Tournament director Valérie Tétreault expressed disappointment over the two withdrawals. She also was sympathetic towards the players, who have to face the demanding schedule of the Tour every year.

“We are obviously very disappointed that Jannik and Novak won’t be joining us in Montréal this year, especially after they also withdrew from last year’s tournament in Toronto,” she said in an official press release. “We respect their decisions and understand that, with such a demanding schedule, players’ health must remain the priority.”

With Carlos Alcaraz also not participating at the Canadian Open, it won’t be wrong to say that the tournament has been dealt a major blow even before its commencement. It remains to be seen if more high-profile players will withdraw from the event in the near future.