"Don't remember him saying anything like that about his body" - Mats Wilander concerned after Novak Djokovic's injury admission
Former World No. 1 Mats Wilander recently expressed concern about Novak Djokovic's hamstring injury at the ongoing 2023 Australian Open.
Djokovic had to dig deep against French qualifier Enzo Couacaud to reach the third round of the Australian Open and continue his pursuit of a 10th Australian Open title. He eventually prevailed 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-0.
The Serb took a medical time-out towards the conclusion of the second set to have extra strapping on his left thigh and was visibly in pain. Despite losing the second set tie-break, he went on to win the match in the next two sets.
Following the game, Djokovic didn't say much about the injury except that it was "not good at all." In light of this, Mats Wilander spoke to Eurosport about the situation and stated that Djokovic's comments were not "reassuring."
"That is not reassuring, because I don’t remember him saying anything like that about his body. I really don’t," Wilander said.
Wilander then compared Djokovic's condition to that of his arch-rival, Rafael Nadal, adding that the Spaniard is usually upfront about his injuries, which the Serb isn't. The fact that Djokovic did mention this injury publicly is a matter of concern, according to Wilander.
"Rafa [Nadal] is obviously always very honest and he gets asked all the time. You never really see Novak injured, and if he is, he’s always very quiet about it. So that’s a worry," Wilander said.
"It’s a worry, but tactically Novak Djokovic will play on one leg if he has to" - Mats Wilander
The Swedish legend continued by saying that even if the Serb is injured, he can still do wonders on the court and that he will find another tactical approach to put less stress on his injury.
"The good think for Novak, when he’s a little bit injured, he can do so much with a tennis ball these days, he can flatten out the forehand, and for his serve. He served brilliantly," Wilander said.
"As long as he can go through the matches, he’ll find another way of playing tennis that I think very few players can do. Of course, it’s a worry, but tactically he’ll play on one leg if he has to," he added.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion will next face Grigor Dimitrov in the third round on Saturday, January 21.