Novak Djokovic has explained why he opted to rush back in time for Wimbledon just three-and-a-half weeks after undergoing knee surgery.
The world No. 2 withdrew injured from the earlier this month French Open and had a procedure on June 5. He arrived at the All England Club last week to practice and was drawn to face qualifier Vit Kopriva in the first round.
Ahead of the tournament, Djokovic admitted that his decision to play wasn’t rational or logical but he shared the reasons he wanted to play despite knowing that he could be risking his Olympic preparations.
Djokovic provided a lengthy update on his knee surgery and recovery as he addressed the media officially for the first time since before pulling out of his French Open quarter-final. And the 24-time Grand Slam champion knew exactly what the topic of conversation would be. “Go straight to the knee conversation, I guess. Save everyone the time for the question,” he started.
“Well, when that happened in fourth round of Roland Garros, I made a very quick decision to make surgery, I was very much in doubt of making Wimbledon. Then after extensive conversations with certain athletes that have been through very similar situations, for example, Taylor Fritz who has been through something pretty much the same like I have three years ago. I think he injured himself also in Roland Garros. He said 21 days after he played his first round in Wimbledon. Wawrinka, Lindsey Vonn, they all shared their experiences.”
After speaking to his colleagues, Djokovic was given the belief that he could recover in time. “Really, that gave me faith and optimism that if rehab is done right and correct, and if of course knee responds well, which is something that is very unpredictable, then there is a pretty good chance that I’ll make Wimbledon,” he added.
Reflecting on his progress since then, the 37-year-old continued: “I arrived here on Sunday. It’s been a week of training. Very good week of training. I had, particularly the last three days, very intense tennis sessions. I had points. Practice sets played with Sinner, with Frances Tiafoe, with Medvedev yesterday, and Emil Ruusuvuori, actually double session, and then today with Rune, as well.
“Really top players that are playing great tennis on grass. High intensity. Lots of I guess situations on the court where the knee is tested to almost the maximum. Change of directions, so forth. The knee has responded very well to all of that so far, which of course then is a great sign for my participation in Wimbledon. That’s why I decided to be in the draw.
“I still have couple days’ time. I play on Tuesday. I’m confident about the health of my knee and just general physical state is really good. Obviously once the tournament starts, I’ll have more I guess sensations and more feedback from how knee reacts to a best-of-five Grand Slam match. So far everything that was done was very positive.”
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