The Serbian tennis player suffered a knee injury in the epic Roland Garros 4th round match against Cerundolo
The great champion comes out in moments of great difficulty, when pressure and injuries undermine his path: for two consecutive times, however, Novak Djokovic rebelled against his destiny.
Winning two epic consecutive matches – against Lorenzo Musetti and Francisco Cerundolo – and qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Roland Garros. With two heroic performances, the Serbian champion also defended the 1st spot of the ATP ranking, but the knee injury suffered against Cerundolo could force him into a painful withdrawal from the Parisian Slam.
The performance in the round of 16 of Roland Garros against Francisco Cerundolo was a great demonstration of willpower: 6-1 5-7 3-6 7-5 6-3 the final result in favor of the Serbian. A bittersweet resolution, however due to the knee problem that keeps both Djokovic and his fans worried.
At the press conference, Nole shocked the media present by explaining that the injury could force him to miss the quarter-finals of the Parisian Slam.
“For a few weeks I had some small problems with my knee, but nothing serious. Then I slipped in the 2nd set and felt pain. I took a lot of painkillers and they started to take effect at the end of the quarter. I don’t know if I’ll play the quarterfinals final, we’ll wait and see,” analyzed Djokovic.
The intervention of the physiotherapist and the painkillers taken at the end of the third set reduced the pain, but Nole’s real condition will only be discovered in the next few days.
“I asked for physiotherapy because I was in pain. This affected my game. For two sets I didn’t want to participate in many rallies. If he made drop shots or changes of direction, I didn’t feel comfortable in the rallies. At a certain point I wondered whether to continue playing or not, given what was happening. After the third set I asked for more medicine. I took the maximum dose I could take and started feeling the effects in the fourth set. I felt fewer limitations in my movements. In the fifth set I played without pain, but the effect of the drugs doesn’t last forever, so we’ll see. I’ll do some tests tomorrow. I have played other tournaments with torn muscles in the past. The adrenaline we feel also helps us. The positive aspect of a Slam is that you have a day of rest between matches, and this can help recovery. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I don’t know if I will be able to play on Wednesday. I hope so,” he told.
Djokovic then complained to the board of the French Slam due to the poor conditions of the court.
“Due to the climate, the conditions this year are a bit particular. There has been a lot of rain, very heavy, and this affects the soil. This is a living surface, like grass. The clay can be treated, not like grass. Roland Garros is the tournament that treats clay best, without a doubt. I think the sun today affected the clay, somehow. I know what they did, but it seems they took away from it clay something that is not present on the court. My injury occurred because, due to this, the pitch becomes very slippery. I have a very aggressive movement, with very sudden changes in direction. The number of slips I had today was excessive. I asked the chair umpire if they could sweep the court more. Maybe not every exchange, but every two or three. I was told no. They asked the supervisor and he also refused. I don’t want to point fingers, I’m just trying to figure out what the problem is with sweeping the court more often. It doesn’t hurt anyone. It would be a good thing for the players, putting more dirt and sweeping more. It would reduce the amount of slips,” he explained.
