(MENAFN - The Peninsula) The Peninsula

Doha: Defending champion and former world number one Novak Djokovic has been forced to pull out of the 2018 Qatar ExxonMobil Open due to elbow pain.

The ATP tournament organisers made this announcement today. The games will be held at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex from January 1 to 6, 2018.

Novak said: 'Unfortunately, the situation with the elbow has not changed for better since yesterday. I still feel the pain. Therefore, I will have to withdraw from ATP tournament in Doha.

I am sorry that I will not be able to play in front of my fans here. I have great memories of this tournament and the matches I played, like the final against Andy from last year. The atmosphere at the stadium is always wonderful, the organization is on the highest level, and I will surely miss it a lot.

However, after the thorough consultations with the medical team, we decided to keep up with the therapies and elbow treatments. '

'Only when I'm 100% ready to play, I will be able to come back. I hope it will be soon. I want to thank everyone for patience and understanding. He added

Tournament Director Karim Alami said, 'Djokovic will surely be missed at this year's tournament but we understand that his health and fitness comes first. We wish him the best as he recovers from the injury while we hope to welcome him at the 2019 tournament.

Alami noted that all arrangements are in place to ensure a very successful tournament and that the 2018 Qatar ExxonMobil Open will be top-notch and exciting like never before.

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