The 2023 Australian Open has been full of surprises, especially in the men’s draw. Four of the top 10 seeds said goodbye to the tournament before the fourth round, including Casper Ruud, Daniil Medveded and Rafael Nadal, who struggled with a hip injury during his last match.
However, Novak Djokovic remains on track to win his 10th title in Melbourne, extending his own record. But he is not 100 percent in form, as he explained during his post-match conference, after he defeated Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets.
Now, he is facing local Alex De Minaur, who is 12 years younger than him and has shown a great form during the tournament, winning almost all his matches in three sets. Can the Serbian overcome his physical problems? Check out what he said about his injury.
Australian Open 2023: How serious is Novak Djokovic’s injury?
According to Djokovic, he has been struggling with a hamstring injury even before the start of the tournament, as he injured himself en route to the title in Adelaide. However, it was more noticeable during his match against Dimitrov, in which the Serbian received two medical timeouts.
“It kind of always starts well in the past few matches, including this one, and then some movement happens and then [the leg] gets worse,” he explained, per the ATP Tour official website. “The pills kicked in, some hot cream and stuff. That works for a little bit, then it doesn’t work again. It’s really a roller coaster,” he added.
Djokovic, who will recover the No. 1 spot at the rankings if he wins the title, said that he almost withdrew before the start of the tournament: “I’m just very grateful that I’m actually able to play. The way it looked just before the tournament started, I thought that it wouldn’t be possible. I’m still here and still holding on.”
“I did not want to pull out for the tournament because I wanted to see how it’s going to feel on the court. The first match was good. The second match I struggled a lot. I had a couple of moments where it was really bad today (Sat. Jan 21) as well,” Djokovic said, before adding: “But I managed to, as I said, survive and kind of pull it through. I’ll take it match by match. I don’t know what awaits, but I do hope and I have faith for the best.”