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World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has decided to skip the Miami Masters, via Serbian sports journalist Sasa Ozmo.

Djokovic, who debuted in Miami in 2006, has played at the tournament 13 times so far in his career. But the majority of those 13 appearances came between 2006 and 2019 as the Serb didn’t compete in Miami in recent years because he was unable to enter the United States as an unvaccinated foreigner.

After playing at the Indian Wells Masters for the first time since 2019, Djokovic was also expected to make his Miami return this March. Sadly for the tournament, that won’t be happening as the 37-year-old is withdrawing from the tournament.

In Miami, Djokovic has enjoyed major success since debuting as he is a six-time champion at the tournament.

Djokovic hinted he might skip Miami

After losing in the Australian Open semifinal to Jannik Sinner, Djokovic opted not to play any tournaments in February and instead took a break before returning to action at the Indian Wells Masters.

In what was Djokovic’s first tournament in 40 days and also his first Indian Wells participation since 2019, it didn’t go well. In Indian Wells, the world No. 1 started with an unconvincing win over Alexander Vukic 6-2 5-7 6-3 before world No. 123 Luca Nardi stunned him 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the third round.

After a shock loss to lucky loser Nardi, Djokovic said Miami was still on his schedule but also appeared to hint he might skip the tournament.

“Yeah, for the moment, Miami is there, so let’s see. Let’s see, obviously 10 minutes ago I was on the court, so I’m still hot-headed a bit. I need to take a day or two and then see what I want to do next,” Djokovic said in his press conference after his early Indian Wells exit.

Djokovic will now likely start preparing for the clay season and target to return to action at the Monte Carlo Masters in early April.