 "Novak Djokovic withdrew after his fourth round win at the 2024 French Open. AFP")
Novak Djokovic will play at the Paris Olympics, the Olympic Committee of Serbia said on Tuesday.
“Novak Djokovic and Dusan Lajovic have fulfilled the conditions according to ATP ranking and confirmed their participation at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris 2024”, the Serbian committee said on their website.
The former World No. 1 has not yet publicly confirmed the announcement.
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam winner, withdrew ahead of his Roland Garros quarter-final against Casper Ruud earlier in June. A scan later revealed a torn medial meniscus in his right knee.
A fortnight ago, Djokovic confirmed he had undergone an operation on his knee and that it “went well”, but gave no timeframe for his return.
Djokovic has maintained he will prioritise the Olympic Games as he chases an elusive singles gold.
In October last year, he said winning an Olympic gold is one of his main ambitions. He reiterated that goal before the clay tournaments this year.
“The Paris Olympics are very important. The Olympics have always been a priority for me,” Djokovic said in April before the clay swing in Monte Carlo.
Novak has played four Olympic tournaments and his best showing has been a bronze medal in Beijing in 2008. He has since twice come close to another medal.
He lost the bronze-medal match to Juan Martin del Potro at London Olympics in 2012. He then lost again to the Argentine four years later in the first round in Rio de Janeiro.
At the Tokyo Games three years ago, Djokovic lost the bronze-medal match to Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.
At the same tournament he pulled out of the mixed doubles bronze medal match with a shoulder injury.
After a mediocre season where’s not reached the final of a tournament, let alone win one, he’s slipped to third in the ATP rankings.