ABU DHABI, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Serbian star Novak Djokovic, 12-time Grand Slam champion, withdrew from the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on Friday.

The 30-year-old was scheduled to play Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinals of the exhibition tournament, but four hours before that, Djokovic released a statement on his website announcing his withdrawal.

"I am terribly disappointed that I am forced to withdraw from the Mubadala World Tennis Championship," Djokovic said.

"Unfortunately, in the past few days I started to feel pain in the elbow and after several tests, my medical team has advised me not to risk anything, to withdraw from the tournament and to immediately continue with the therapies," he added.