“This is an extremely inconvenient timing for him”: Serbia captain on why Djokovic misses Davis Cup

Serbia’s Davis Cup captain, Viktor Troicki, explained Novak Djokovic’s absence from the upcoming tie to be held in February in Chile. The team nomination is again led by Hamad Medjedovic — facing a challenging opponent as Chile, in a tie that will begin to set the path for a potential return to the Davis Cup Finals.

It will be the first round of qualifiers, taking place between February 6 and 7 — just one week after the conclusion of the Australian Open, whose final will be played on Sunday, February 1. This is one of the main reasons for the absence of the 24-time Grand Slam champion, whom Troicki hopes will perform strongly at the Happy Slam.

In a recent interview with Sportklub, Troicki discussed the team announced at the start of January, highlighting the absence of former world No. 1 Djokovic. He also noted that Miomir Kecmanovic (No. 69) and Laslo Djere (No. 91) — currently Serbia’s No. 2 and No. 3 — will not be part of the team.

“Novak has decided that Hamad Medjedović, Dušan Lajović, and Ognjen Milić will play in Santiago, and the twins Ivan and Matej Sabanov will play in doubles,” Troicki announced. “We have a tough visit to Chile at a very inconvenient time, right after the Australian Open. We’ll play on clay immediately after hard courts, which doesn’t fit many players’ schedules because they are defending a lot of points.”

The draw has not been favorable for the Serbians, who will have to travel from Melbourne to Santiago — with a 14-hour time difference between the two cities — while the Chileans will wait for their opponents on clay courts, a surface favorable to specialists like Alejandro Tabilo, Cristian Garin, and Nicolás Jarry.

The short rest, long trip, and adaptation to a new surface are part of the reasons explaining Nole’s absence for this Davis Cup stage. “As for our best player, Novak Djokovic, this is an extremely inconvenient timing for him,” Troicki said. “We all hope he performs well and goes far at the Australian Open," he said. "It wasn’t realistic to expect him to fly to Chile from Melbourne immediately after a grueling Grand Slam, change surface, and play with us this time.”

“This is not the final list; we have time for changes, but the current situation is like this. We will fight against any team. Chile is in a similar situation, only they play at home. It will be a tough environment, but we will do the best we can, with whoever we have on the court, and hope for the best.”

The tie will follow the classic Davis Cup format, with four singles matches and one doubles match, which will determine who advances to the second round of qualifiers, where they will await the first seeds, Spain — led by Carlos Alcaraz — and finalists from the past Davis Cup Finals, if the Serbians manage to win. In that case, Djokovic may have the opportunity to return to the court for the Serbian team to face Spain in the September qualifiers.