Jannik Sinner has finally cleared the air surrounding his participation at the Paris Olympic Games. However, it is something that his fans wouldn’t want to hear as the Italian star pulled out of the mega event after not being completely fit. Sinner suffered from a fever while he was about to catch the flight to Paris and was forced to delay his trip. Subsequently, it was revealed that Sinner had Tonsillitis due to which he was forced to withdraw from the Paris Olympics. However, Sinner’s loss was Novak Djokovic’s gain.

The Italian star took to his official Twitter handle to update fans about his decision. He revealed, “I am saddened to inform you that unfortunately I will not be able to participate in the Paris Olympic Games. After a good week of clay training I started to feel unwell. I spent a couple of days resting and during a visit the doctor found tonsillitis and strongly advised me against playing.”

While Sinner was upset about missing the Olympics, his withdrawal significantly raised the hopes of winning a gold medal in Novak Djokovic’s camp. In Sinner’s absence, Djokovic will be the top seed in Paris and the favorite to win the yellow metal. The Serb will face the biggest challenge from Carlos Alcaraz, now that Sinner is not participating.

Further, Djokovic has already begun his preparations for the Olympics, shortly after finishing his Wimbledon campaign. He is practicing on the clay courts, which will be the surface for the Paris Olympics. Additionally, the Serb was also involved in ‘one of the other events.’

Novak Djokovic takes to canoeing while preparing for the Olympics

The Serb is training hard day in and day out to achieve glory at the Olympics. However, taking some time off his busy schedule, Djokovic tried his hand at a different sport. He took to his official Instagram handle and shared glimpses of him canoeing to get in the zone for the Olympics.

Interestingly, his country also boasts an Olympic medal in canoeing, a silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. Further, Djokovic is optimistic about a good show in Paris. After losing the Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz, the Serb revealed, “I still have intentions to play Olympic Games [and] hopefully have a chance to fight for a medal for my country. The Olympics are on a completely different surface obviously [and I’m] going back to the place where I got injured some weeks ago.”

Tennis at the Paris Olympics will be played at Roland Garros, where Djokovic had to pull out at the French Open midway due to an injury. The memories from that painful exit will still be fresh in the mind of Djokovic and a gold medal in Paris will certainly heal that wound.