"I'm not surprised... Novak Djokovic has more time than I had" - Taylor Fritz draws from past experience to assess Serb's recovery ahead of Wimbledon
Taylor Fritz believes Novak Djokovic's swift recovery from his recent knee surgery is not surprising. Fritz spoke from his own experience with the injury and subsequent surgery while assessing the shape in which Djokovic is heading into the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.
At the 2021 French Open, Fritz found himself facing match point in the second round against Dominik Koepfer. Suddenly, he felt something go awry in his right knee. A few seconds later, the American had lost the match, but more worryingly, he was unable to make his way out of the court without assistance.
Scans later revealed that Fritz had suffered a meniscus tear; the same injury that Djokovic sustained this year at Roland-Garros during his fourth-round encounter against Francisco Cerundolo. The Serb somehow played through pain to progress to the quarterfinals. However, he soon withdrew from the Claycourt Major and underwent surgery; a similar situation to what Fritz found himself in three years ago.
Fritz underwent surgery after swiftly returning to California from Paris back in 2021, as he was desperate to feature at that year's Wimbledon Championships. He eventually made it to SW19, progressing to the third round before being ousted by Alexander Zverev.
Fritz has now assessed Djokovic's condition during an appearance on the Tennis Weekly podcast.
The World No. 13 said that following surgery, it's all about recovering from the surgery itself rather than any additional muscular injury concern. The Serb found himself on crutches after the surgery, but from recent videos posted on social media from his Wimbledon preparations, it seems as if he is well on the way to playing Wimbledon.
"You have full strength immediately. You never lost full strength. It’s just about recovering from the actual surgery itself, not any muscular thing. So I’m not surprised. I believe he got in to do surgery before," Fritz said.
The 2022 BNP Paribas Open champion also said that the Serb has more time to get back as close as possible to full fitness compared to what Fritz himself had before Wimbledon in 2021.
"I think his recovery time, I think he has more time than I had, actually. I know for a fact my first match at Wimbledon was exactly 20 days after my surgery. So I played a little less than three weeks after my surgery. Basically three weeks. I think I saw something saying, he’s on, like, I think like 19 or 18 or 20 [days] right about now, so he’s gonna have a whole extra week than I did," Fritz added.
Taylor Fritz has been in touch with Novak Djokovic over the Serb's knee surgery and subsequent rehabilitation
During his time at the recently concluded Cinch Championships at The Queen's Club, London, Fritz told the media that Djokovic had reached out to him to talk about recovering from the knee surgery.
The World No. 13 said that he had been honest with the Serb regarding his own experience, and also said that "it's possible for Djokovic to play" at Wimbledon.
"I told him what it was like for me. A lot of it comes down to the inflammation and how you react. It’s possible for Novak to play. It’s the exact same thing that I had and I played. Obviously, I wasn’t contending to win a title, I was just showing up to hopefully win a couple of rounds – but it (returning at Wimbledon) is possible," Fritz told Tennis365.
Fritz is set to feature at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne before heading to Wimbledon. He will start his campaign against Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild in Eastbourne.
Meanwhile, Djokovic has arrived in Wimbledon but is yet to confirm his participation.