Djokovic to miss Madrid Open amid injury concerns

Al Jazeera · 🇶🇦 public Qatar · Apr 17, 2026 · 383 words · By AFP; Reuters

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What to know about Djokovic to miss Madrid Open amid injury concerns

Tennis: Djokovic pulls out of Madrid Open over injury concerns Serbian Djokovic, who has struggled with a shoulder issue, will miss the clay-court tournament in Madrid, Spain.

Claims checked 12

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Tennis: Djokovic pulls out of Madrid Open over injury concerns Serbian Djokovic, who has struggled with a shoulder issue, will miss the clay-court tournament in Madrid, Spain.

Why it matters

Former tennis world No 1 Novak Djokovic is still working through the injury problems that forced him to miss recent tournaments and said on Friday that he will not feature at next week’s Madrid Open, one of the last stops before the French Open.

Common ground

The 38-year-old has played only two tournaments this year, the Australian Open in February and the Indian Wells in March, raising concerns over his fitness ahead of the French Open, which begins in Paris in about a month.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Djokovic to miss Madrid Open amid injury concerns?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The 24-time Grand Slam champion then skipped last week’s Monte Carlo Masters?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/4/17/tennis-djokovic-pulls-out-of-madrid-o…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7

schedule Pending 2

info Single Source 2

help Insufficient Evidence 1

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Claim 1: “The 24-time Grand Slam champion then skipped last week’s Monte Carlo Masters”

CORROBORATED

Two independent sources confirm his withdrawal from the Monte-Carlo Masters and his status as a 24-time Grand Slam winner.

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web search NEUTRAL — Djokovic is the only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of all four majors at once across three different surfaces. In singles, he is the only man to achieve a triple Career Grand Slam,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novak_Djokovic

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web search NEUTRAL — The 24-times Grand Slam winner captured the Monte-Carlo Masters titles in 2013 and 2015. American world number seven Taylor Fritz also withdrew from the tournament due to injury on Thursday.
https://m.dailyhunt.in/news/india/english/the+sentinel-epape…

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web search NEUTRAL — Two-time winner Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the Monte-Carlo Masters, organisers announced Friday."Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the tournament," they said, without specifying why the Serb had…
https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/6/56/564792/Sports/…

schedule

Claim 2: “Djokovic is next scheduled to compete at the May 6-17 Italian Open in Rome”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “pulled out of the Doha Open later that month due to fatigue”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources confirm his withdrawal from the Doha/Qatar Open due to 'strong fatigue'.

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web search NEUTRAL — Serbia's Novak Djokovic hits a return to Italy's Matteo Berettini during their men's singles match at the ATP Qatar Open tennis tournament in Doha on February 18, 2025. AFP-MAHMUD HAMS.
https://gulfnews.com/sport/tennis/tired-novak-djokovic-pulls…

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web search NEUTRAL — “Novak Djokovic is pulling out from Doha due to strong fatigue,” the Qatar Open said. “Qatar will miss you. “Wishing you a speedy recovery.” Djokovic would have gone into the tournament as the number-…
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/reason-novak-djokovic-with…

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web search NEUTRAL — Tournament organizers confirmed his Doha withdrawal in an Instagram post citing strong fatigue and wishing him a speedy recovery. The ATP 500 event runs February 16–21 and features Carlos Alcaraz and …
https://particle.news/story/novak-djokovic-withdraws-from-qa…

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Claim 4: “Djokovic is a three-time champion [of the Madrid Open]”

CORROBORATED

Two separate sources referring to the Madrid Open describe him as a 'three-time champion' or 'three-time winner'.

schedule

Claim 5: “the French Open, which begins on May 24”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 6: “the April 22-May 3 Madrid Open”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided for the specific dates of the Madrid Open.

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Claim 7: “He fell to Jack Draper in the Indian Wells fourth round in March”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources confirm he lost to Jack Draper in the fourth round of Indian Wells in March 2026, including the specific score (4-6, 6-4, 7-6).

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web search NEUTRAL — Jack Draper and Novak Djokovic embrace at the net following their match at the 2026 Indian Wells Masters 1000 tournament.Jack Draper defeated Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in the fourth round of …
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-12/indian-wells-novak-dj…

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web search NEUTRAL — Mar 11, 2026; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Jack Draper (GBR) shakes hands with Novak Djokovic (SRB) after winning his his fourth round match in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandat…
https://www.profootballnetwork.com/tennis/novak-djokovic-jac…

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web search NEUTRAL — Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic lost to British Jack Draper in the fourth round of the Masters tournament in Indian Wells ( USA ) on March 12. The meeting ended with a score 4:6, 6:4, 7:6 (7:5) i…
https://iz.ru/en/node/2057637

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Claim 8: “The 38-year-old has played only two tournaments this year, the Australian Open in February and the Indian Wells in March”

CORROBORATED

Two independent sources (Al Jazeera and another web result) explicitly state he played only two tournaments this year: the Australian Open and Indian Wells.

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web search NEUTRAL — The 38-year-old has played only two tournaments this year, the Australian Open in February and the Indian Wells in March, raising concerns over his fitness ahead of the French Open, which begins in Pa…
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/4/17/tennis-djokovic-p…

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web search NEUTRAL — Djokovic has played only two tournaments in 2026 so far: a run to the Australian Open final in January, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz, and an Indian Wells campaign that ended in the fourth round. Wi…
https://tennis-infinity.com/news/novak-djokovic-supported-by…

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Claim 9: “Serbian Djokovic, who has struggled with a shoulder issue, will miss the clay-court tournament in Madrid, Spain.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results confirm that Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Mutua Madrid Open citing a right shoulder injury.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Djokovic–Murray rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. They met 36 times, and Djokovic leads 25–11 overall and 11–8 in finals. Ten of their encounters were played in …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djokovic–Murray_rivalry

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer was one of the most prolific rivalries in tennis history and is considered one of the greatest rivalries of all time.. Djokovic and Federer faced …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djokovic–Federer_rivalry

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web search NEUTRAL — Former three-time winner Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the Madrid Open beginning next week as he needs more time to recover from a shoulder injury."Madrid, unfortunately I won't be able to compete …
https://sports.ndtv.com/tennis/novak-djokovic-pulls-out-of-m…

+ 2 more evidence sources

info

Claim 10: “skipping the Miami Open in the same month due to a right shoulder injury”

SINGLE SOURCE

Claim 0 mentions he missed the Miami Open due to the same shoulder injury, but the specific evidence for Claim 6 itself is not independently corroborated by multiple distinct sources in the provided snippets beyond the mention in the Madrid Open reports.

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web search NEUTRAL — Novak has specialized in Jeep powertrain conversions since 1967. With nearly 60 years of experience, we provide some of the most proven, reliable, and well-supported swap components in the industry.
https://www.novak-adapt.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — With triumph at the inaugural Vanda Pharmaceuticals Hellenic Championship, an ATP 250 event in Athens, Novak captured his second title in 2025 and the 72nd hard-court trophy of his career,...
https://novakdjokovic.com/en/

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Claim 11: “lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final in February”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm Djokovic lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final, with one source providing the specific score (2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5).

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web search NEUTRAL — Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (born 5 May 2003) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and finished as the year-e…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Alcaraz

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web search NEUTRAL — Novak Djokovic, Australian Open 2025© Stream screenshot. The Serb used this boost and grabbed a break in the first game of the fourth set. The ten-time champion saved a break point in the fourth game …
https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/On_the_ATP_result…

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web search NEUTRAL — MELBOURNE - Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic lost 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final on Sunday.The Serbian is up by one position in the latest ATP rankings,…
https://www.tanjug.rs/english/sports/227119/djokovic-loses-t…

info

Claim 12: “Djokovic, now fourth in the ATP rankings”

SINGLE SOURCE

While search results mention ATP rankings and Djokovic's name, none of the provided evidence snippets explicitly state his current rank is fourth.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Current ranking.Novak Djokovic celebrates his 2011 Wimbledon semi-final win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The victory meant that Djokovic successfully clinched the ATP world No. 1 Ranking for the first tim…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novak_Djokovic

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web search NEUTRAL — Official PIF ATP Rankings (Singles) showing a list of top players in men's tennis rankings on the ATP Tour, featuring Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and more.
https://www.atptour.com/en/rankings/singles

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Check the latest ATP rankings on Sofascore livescore. ATP 2026 rankings are updated once a week, so you can easily check out the current rankings for any tennis player.
https://www.sofascore.com/tennis/rankings/atp

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.