Novak Djokovic Withdraws From Miami Open With Injury After Early Indian Wells Exit

Djokovic will be back for clay season.

Novak Djokovic withdrew from the Miami Open after losing in the Round of 16 at Indian Wells. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

After Novak Djokovic’s early exit at Indian Wells, the 24-time major champion will not be following his run up with an appearance at the Miami Open as he withdrew from the ATP tournament on Sunday due to a shoulder injury. It doesn’t sound like a very serious injury as he’s expected to return to the court next month in time for clay season to start at Monte Carlo.

Djokovic lost in the Round of 16 at Indian Wells (where he was a finalist last year) to Great Britain’s Jack Draper. It was his first tournament appearance since playing in the Australian Open final in January, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz. He did beat Jannik Sinner in the semis of the first major of 2026, though.

It’s no secret that Djokovic has been selective with his tournament appearances in recent years, and he’s even admitted that his focus now is on the majors. He seems to decide about the other ATP tournaments, even bigger ones like Indian Wells and Miami, depending on his health at the time. He’s still chasing to win that elusive 25th major win, which would make him the winningest tennis player in major history.

After losing to Alcaraz in the Australian Open, Djokovic shared his goal of winning that 25th major.

“I’m gonna keep pushing and see if I get another chance,” he said.

Djokovic not eyeing retirement yet

Djokovic missing out on Miami will cause him to drop to No. 4 in the world rankings, falling behind Alexander Zverev. He’s still putting up good fights against Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner, the No. 1 and 2 in the world, though, and it sounds like he won’t think about retirement while he can still be in the conversation with these two young superstars.

While Alcaraz and Sinner are undeniably dominating men’s tennis right now, and have been for a few years, Djokovic is definitely the third top player amongst them. The 38-year-old hasn’t won a major since the 2023 U.S. Open—since then, Sinner and Alcaraz have won all nine majors. We’ll see if Djokovic can put an end to that streak at the French Open this spring.

Ahead of Indian Wells, Djokovic shared that another goal of his is to play in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. He would be defending the gold medal he won at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“That’s one of the long-term goals to reach the Olympics. That would be nice,” Djokovic said. “... It’s still a long way. I think that at my age and at my stage of my career that every year seems like longer period than anyone else who’s younger. I’ll try to make it, definitely one of the motivations.”

A lot could happen before then, obviously, as Djokovic will then be 41 years old. Maybe he’ll win a 25th major and decide to retire before then, or an injury will force him to make that decision. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be surprising if Djokovic chose to retire at the 2028 Summer Games—his longtime rival and buddy Andy Murray did that at the 2024 Olympics.

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