Djokovic to bypass Madrid one more time

MADRID - World's No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic will not be hitting the court at the upcoming ATP Masters Series tournament in Madrid for the second consecutive year, a Madrid-based sport daily has reported.

Madrid-based Marca said that Djokovic had withdrawn from the Mutua Madrid Open to take some rest from the current season's exhausting schedule and recharge to full power in a bid to win Roland Garros and hoist the one Grand Slam trophy he was missing.

Djokovic last appeared on the Madrid clay in 2013, when he lost to Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in the second round. Last year he pulled out with a right arm injury.

Serbia's tennis master won the title at the ATP World Tour 1000 event once - in 2011.

This year, Djokovic won the Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo events and will next play at the Rome Masters, taking place on May 10-17.

Photo Tanjug, T. Valic (archive)