Djokovic will sit out rest of 2017

For more than a year, Novak Djokovic’s right elbow hurt when he hit serves or forehands. The pain kept getting worse, and now he’s going to give his arm a chance to heal by sitting out the rest of 2017.

Djokovic will miss the U.S. Open, ending his streak of participating in 51 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, and aims to return to the ATP tour in January. He made the announcement Wednesday exactly a year to the day after Roger Federer said he would be sidelined for the second half of last season.

“This is one of those injuries where nothing can really help instantly. You just have to allow natural rehabilitation to take its course,” Djokovic said. “Professionally, this is not, obviously, an easy decision for me.”

Since entering his first major tournament at the 2005 Australian Open, Djokovic has never missed one, the thirdlongest active run among men and seventh-longest in history.

In that time, the 30-year-old Serb has won 12 Grand Slam titles, including the U.S. Open in 2011 and 2015. Only three men have won more major tennis singles championships: Federer (19), Rafael Nadal (15) and Pete Sampras (14). “The remarkable series has come to an end,” Djokovic said. “My body has its limits, and I have to respect that and be grateful for all that I have achieved so far.”

He said that Andre Agassi, with whom he recently began working on a part-time basis, will be his coach after the hia- tus. Djokovic plans to start with a tuneup tournament ahead of the Australian Open at the start of 2018.

“He supports my decision to take a break and remains my head coach,” Djokovic said about Agassi, also noting that he’ll be looking for a new fitness trainer.

“He is going to help me get back into shape and bounce back strong after the recovery period.”