It has been over a month since Novak Djokovic suffered a shocking third-round defeat to Jack Draper at the Indian Wells Masters, and few could have predicted what followed. The 38-year-old has since skipped the next two Masters events and delayed the start of his clay-court season until May. His withdrawal from the Madrid Open now leaves the Rome Masters as his only opportunity to compete at that level before the French Open begins. These back-to-back withdrawals have raised a pressing question about how far he actually intends to go this season.

As Djokovic continues to have physical setbacks, many are left wondering when he will announce his retirement. However, Toni Nadal, the uncle and former coach of Rafael Nadal, believes that the 24-time Grand Slam winner shouldn’t hang up his racket just yet. But he also feels that Nole won’t be able to win another major no matter how far his career goes.

“No, no. For now, let him continue. Although I think it’s unlikely, he’ll win another Grand Slam. He beat [Jannik] Sinner in Australia, but not [Carlos] Alcaraz in the final. I think Sinner didn’t have a very good day, he didn’t have a brilliant tournament. Djokovic, who is exceptional, knew how to take advantage of that. In the final, he played an incredible first set, but he can’t maintain that pace for two hours against Alcaraz,” Nadal told Mundo Deportivo.

Explaining the reason why he doesn’t want Djokovic to retire just yet, Nadal remarked that he isn’t a fan of the type of tennis that is played today and preferred the sport during the prime era of the Big Three.

“I don’t like modern tennis enough because I prefer strategy in ball sports. And we’re in a sport where the most important thing, above all else, is hitting the ball really hard. Everyone serves at 200. In the era of the Big Three, there was more variety,” he concluded.

Despite ongoing speculation about his retirement, Djokovic showed at the Australian Open earlier this year that he still has plenty left in the tank. He defeated two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in a marathon five-set semifinal before falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the final. Even so, the veteran holds an impressive 7-2 win-loss record so far this year.

As Djokovic is still among the best-ranked players in the world, it is no wonder that he wants to keep going on. He once again answered the question about his retirement in a recent interview with Esquire Australia.

“What keeps me going is first and foremost my love for the game. Tennis has been my life for so long, and I still enjoy every moment on the court. I love the competition, I love the challenge, and I still feel strong and capable of competing with the younger players — that’s a big part of the fun for me,” he said.

However, Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the Madrid Masters just shows that he has still not fully recovered from the right shoulder injury that he had sustained at the Indian Wells Open over a month ago. His availability for the Rome Open, which begins on May 6, is still uncertain.

Though the crowd will definitely miss the Serb in action on the clay courts of the Spanish capital, he is not the only player to withdraw from the tournament. The number of player withdrawals for the tournament is already quite staggering.

Carlos Alcaraz and more join Novak Djokovic ahead of the Madrid Masters

Local hero Carlos Alcaraz has decided to withdraw from the tournament after sustaining an injury during his R32 clash against Otto Virtanen. Though the 22-year-old had won the match 6-4, 6-2, he had to pull out from the event in Barcelona as well due to the setback.

It remains unclear whether Jannik Sinner will participate in the Madrid Masters, as the Italian has yet to make a final decision.

“I’m going to take 2-3 days off, and then we’ll decide if I play Madrid or not,” he had said after his triumph in Monte Carlo.

Additionally, World No. 8 Taylor Fritz will also be missing the Madrid Masters due to the persistent issues with his knee. He is yet to begin his clay-court season and hasn’t returned to the court since his defeat to Jiri Lehecka in the R16 of the Miami Open.

Holger Rune will also miss the Madrid Open as he continues to recover from the ACL injury he sustained at last year’s Stockholm Open. Sebastian Korda will not feature in the Spanish capital either.

On the women’s side, Emma Navarro and Maya Joint are the two notable absentees. Navarro has withdrawn due to undisclosed health issues, while Joint will miss the tournament with a back injury.

Despite this, the Madrid Masters will still feature plenty of star power, with most of the top-ranked players set to compete. Who do you think will reign supreme on Madrid’s clay courts?