Novak Djokovic will miss the US Open next month and the rest of 2017 as he bids to recover from the elbow injury that forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon.

Djokovic said it had been a “year and a half” carrying the injury and he has decided to “not play any competition or tournament for the rest of 2017. The former world number one said it would be “a couple of months at least without the racket.

Speaking via Facebook on Wednesday afternoon, the former world number one confirmed that he was taking the rest of the year to rest and recover.

I took time to make a decision about my recovery. Sorry for keeping you in the dark these days. Read more here https://t.co/tCSw46TOL2

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) July 26, 2017

“It was a decision which had to be made,” Djokovic said on Facebook Live. “Wimbledon was probably the toughest tournament of me for feeling the pain which has escalated.