Djokovic started this season strongly, defeating his rival Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open and leading by a set in the final against Carlos Alcaraz. Since then, however, he hasn’t been in top form and hasn’t shown his best performance.
At the ongoing tournament in Indian Wells, he was eliminated in the round of 16 by defending champion Jack Draper, and he will have to skip the next event of the famous 'Sunshine Swing'.
Due to a right shoulder injury, he won’t be able to defend his final appearance at next week's Masters in Miami.
This means Djokovic will lose 650 ranking points and drop at least to fourth place behind Alexander Zverev. He is expected to return to the courts at the earliest in early April, on clay in Monte Carlo.
Djokovic has won in Miami six times and played in the final eight times. In both statistics, he shares the record with home legend Andre Agassi. The Serbian record-holder last reached the final round last year, when he lost the title match to Jakub Mensik.
The main draw of the men’s tournament in Miami begins on Wednesday, March 18th. The draw will take place on Monday at 18:00 CET.