Novak Djokovic not sure he will challenge Alcaraz in Madrid after losing to Dusan Lajovic

Novak Djokovic is struggling on clay and is not sure if he will play next week in Madrid, leaving Carlos Alcaraz as the main favorite to defend his title.

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic keeps struggling on clay. The world number one was defeated by his compatriot and world number 70, Dusan Lajovic, 6-4, 7-6(6), in the quarterfinals in Banja Luka. Novak seems to still have a lot of problems with his right elbow, and during the press conference that followed his match, he said that he is not even sure that he will play next week in Madrid. That would leave Carlos Alcaraz as the main favorite to defend his title in Spain.

Novak commented: “This defeat is still fresh; I haven’t planned anything. I will wait for the dust to settle, and then we’ll see what’s the next step”.

Novak Djokovic in 2023

Novak Djokovic

18 - 6win/loss

Hard
8-3
Clay
10-3
37 year old
WWWWLWWLWL
2024 Highlights

Ranked no.1, the Serbian played his last match on the 21st of April when he lost to world no.70 Dusan Lajovic 6-4 7-6(6) in the quarter in Banja Luka (draw).

At present, during this year the Serbian has a 17-3 win-loss record. Djokovic conquered 2 titles in 2023 in Adelaide and Australian Open.

Djokovic will play next in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 24th of April.

Djokovic
Banja Luka
Djokovic's Record

Lajovic in Banja Luka, ranking, and results in 2023

Dusan Lajovic

13 - 13win/loss

Hard
3-5
Clay
10-8
34 year old
LWLWLLWWWW
2024 Highlights

Now the world no.70, the Serbian has managed to achieve a 15-10 match record in 2023. Lajovic is playing at the moment in Banja Luka where he overcame the world no.74 Filip Krajinovic 6-2 4-6 6-4, the world no.57 Gregoire Barrere 6-3 6-0 and the world no.1 Novak Djokovic 6-4 7-66.

Dusan Lajovic will play the world no.33 Miomir Kecmanovic in the semifinal on Saturday at 3:30 pm on CENTRE COURT. They have never played each other till now in top tournaments.

Lajovic will compete next in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open). He will begin to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 1st of January.

Lajovic
Banja Luka
Lajovic's Record
Lajovic
Projected
Draw

Novak Djokovic and Dusan Lajovic fought against each other 3 times. The head to head is 2-1 for Djokovic. Previously, the last time they played each other, Dusan Lajovic won 6-4 7-6(6) in the quarter in Banja Luka (Srpska Open) on the 21st of April 2023.

Here the video highlights.


Embed from Getty Images