Paris: Serbia's Novak Djokovic will drop out of the world's top 10 for the first time in more than a decade next week.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion has not played since Wimbledon in July after ending his season early due to an elbow injury.

Juan Martin del Potro's win over Robin Haase in the Paris Masters third round on Thursday ensured that former world number one Djokovic will be ranked lower than 10th for the first time since March 2007.

The 30-year-old is hoping to make his return at the exhibition World Tennis Championship at Abu Dhabi in December.