Novak Djokovic may have seen his chances of regaining the World No.1 spot fall out of his grasp, as the Serbian will not be participating at the upcoming Canadian Open, which runs from August 7-13, 2023.

Although the reigning French Open champion has been granted permission to travel to North America, he has opted to skip the Canadian Open and focus his preparations on the US Open in September.

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Djokovic will play in Cincinnati

The former World No.1 withdrew from the Canadian Open, citing fatigue. However, he is slated to compete at the subsequent Cincinnati Masters, using that as a lead-up to the last Grand Slam of the season.

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With Djokovic trailing current World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz by 580 points, the Serbian would see the difference drop to 430 ahead of Montreal as Alcaraz will lose 150 ranking points next week (due to his runner-up appearance in Umag last year). However, should Alcaraz win in Montreal, then the Spaniard would undoubtedly be in the pole position ahead of Flushing Meadows, with Djokovic unable to make up the difference.