Djokovic withdraws from exhibition tie

The comeback plans for Novak Djokovic hit the
rocks on Friday when a recurrence of pain in his
right elbow forced him to withdraw from an
exhibition tournament in the United Arab
Emirates.
Djokovic hasn’t played competitively since he
retired in the Wimbledon quarterfinals because of
the elbow injury. He was scheduled on Friday to
play Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the
exhibition semifinals, his first match in nearly five
months.
“I am terribly disappointed that I am forced to
withdraw,” Djokovic said in a statement on his
website.
“Unfortunately, in the past few days I started to
feel pain in the elbow and after several tests, my
medical team has advised me not to risk
anything, to withdraw from the tournament and
to immediately continue with the therapies.
“This might affect the start of the season and the
tournament plan, but the decision will be made in
the following days.”
Djokovic is entered in the Qatar Open starting on
Monday in Doha, where he’s the defending two-
time champion. That’s his lead-in tournament for
the Australian Open, which starts in just over two
weeks.
Exhibition tournament organizers have arranged a
substitute match between Andy Murray, another
former No. 1 who has been out since Wimbledon
with a hip injury, and Bautista Agut.
Murray has been in Abu Dhabi only to train for
the tour.
Bautista Agut will take on the winner of the other
semifinal between Dominic Thiem of Austria and
Kevin Anderson of South Africa.