Novak Djokovic withdraws from the Qatar Open, which will be Alcaraz and Sinner's next tournament
Djokovic has strong fatigue following his Australian Open run to the final.
Novak Djokovic hasn't fully recovered from his heroic performance at the Australian Open, beating favourite Jannik Sinner in the semi-final in five sets, and has announced that he will miss the Qatar Open, his scheduled next tournament, to be played in Doha between 16-21 February 2026.
The 38-year-old Serbian cited strong fatigue as the reason why he will miss the ATP 500 event, which will also feature top players Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. He was replaced by "lucky loser" Valentin Royer.
The Qatar Open will have Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as the top seeds. Following Djokovic's departure, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alexander Bublik, Daniil Medveded, Andrey Rublev, Jakub Mensk, and Karen Khachanov will be the top seeds.
Djokovic has won this tournament twice before, in 2016 and 2017, when it was an ATP 250. In 2025 it was promoted to an ATP Tour 500 event, with Rublev beating Jack Draper.
