(CNN) -- Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the hometown tennis tournament run by his family, following the devastating death of his grandfather.
The world No. 1 said he was too emotionally drained to defend his Serbia Open title next week after losing his grandfather Vladimir last Thursday.
The 24-year-old, who has won two out of the three tournaments held in Belgrade, made the difficult decision not to defend his title after consulting with family.
"I will take some time, try to restore my emotional energy," he said.
"This is certainly one of the toughest decisions in my career, but it is impossible for me to play in the next few days and to think about tennis, when there are some other things in my head."
Djokovic: My late grandfather is with me in spirit
The Nadal and Djokovic rivalry
Spearheading Serbia's Fed Cup semifinal match against Russia is 24-year-old Ana Ivanovic. The former world No.1 has enjoyed a recent return to form, rising seven places since the end of 2011 to be ranked 15th in the world.
Fed Cup: Semifinal showdown
The clay-court tournament, to be held from April 30 to May 6, was founded by Djokovic's family in 2009.
They purchased the ATP Tour license from the Dutch Open and worked hard to gain government support for the country's first professional tennis tournament, which is run by Djokovic's uncle Goran.
Novak won the Belgrade event in its opening year and says on his website it is the most cherished title in a stellar career that now includes five grand slam wins.
He will take a breather from competing for the first time since hearing the news of his grandfather's death, having suffered a brutal straight-sets defeat to Rafael Nadal in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday.
The Spaniard claimed his eighth straight title at the tournament, ending a run of seven defeats in finals to the man who replaced him at the top of the world rankings, including January's record-breaking six-hour epic at the Australian Open.
Djokovic is expected to defend his title at the Madrid Open next month ahead of the second grand slam of the season in Paris.
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The pair first met at the 2006 French Open quarterfinals. Nadal won when Djokovic retired with an injury. The Spaniard won the tournament for the second of six times overall.
Djokovic plays up to the cameras after winning his first Wimbledon in 2011, beating Nadal 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3 in a final lasting two hours, 28 minutes.
The pitch at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium will be transformed into a tennis court for the Nadal and Djokovic match on July 14. It is hoped more than 80,000 fans will attend, making it the biggest one-off tennis match in history.
Serbia will make history when they compete in a Fed Cup final four tie for the first time. Here the team (L-R) Bojana Jovanovski, Natalija Kostic, captain Dejan Vranes, Aleksandra Krunic and Jelena Jankovic celebrate after winning the Fed Cup tie against Belgium in Charleroi in February.
Russia's semifinal chances have been thrown into doubt with the loss of world No. 2 Maria Sharapova to injury.
The Czech team will have to reverse a four-tie losing streak against Italy if they are to reach the final. The 2010 champions will be led by Francesca Schiavone, who also won the French Open that year. Schiavone will lead off against Lucie Safarova.
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