"I have been struggling with my right wrist for the last four five days, to be honest" – Novak Djokovic makes troubling revelation after Laver Cup loss
Novak Djokovic made a troubling revelation, hinting at an injury after losing his third fixture at the 2022 Laver Cup, which concluded with Team World lifting the trophy.
Novak Djokovic faced a defeat at the hands of Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(3), on Day 3 of the Laver Cup. In the post-match press conference, the Serb revealed that he was struggling with a right wrist injury.
Djokovic notched up two wins for Team Europe on Day 2 – first in singles against Frances Tiafoe and second alongside Matteo Berrettini against Jack Sock and Alex de Minaur. He, however, believes that the two matches elevated the wrist issue. He revealed that the injury affected his serve and in turn, his entire game.
"I have been struggling with my right wrist for the last four, five days. I have been keeping it under control. The two matches probably had an effect. Today was not easy. I couldn't serve as fast or as accurately as I would like to. That has affected the whole game," he said.
Further analyzing the cause of the injury, Novak Djokovic pointed to the court conditions and the lack of matches as contributors to the problem.
“Could be not playing almost three months matches, and then conditions here are such that the balls are really big and slow. When you use them quite a bit, you know, they kind of sit on the court. So you always have to generate a lot of wrist action and speed, which, you know, could be the case why I have been feeling soreness of my right wrist in the last four days that I have been training and playing here,” he revealed.
“But I think it's also the two matches that I played last night that I was excited and I played great, looked very sharp, felt great on the court, but then maybe lack of matches also is something that I felt today,” Djokovic added.
Before the Laver Cup, Novak Djokovic was last seen in the Wimbledon final in July, where he outsmarted Nick Kyrgios to win a fourth consecutive title. He wasn’t allowed to contest any tournaments in the North American swing, owing to his Covid-19 vaccination status.
Novak Djokovic discloses his schedule for the rest of 2022
Although rejected by North America, Novak Djokovic has been given consent to compete in upcoming tournaments in various parts of the world.
The Serb, who started the season as the World No. 1, fell down in the rankings as he wasn’t allowed to play numerous events, including the 2022 Australian Open and the 2022 US Open. Moreover, his victory at Wimbledon proved to be idle as Wimbledon’s ban of the Russian and Belarusian athletes saw the tournament stripped of ranking points. He, therefore, is currently ranked World No. 7.
Djokovic, who is now back in action, disclosed his upcoming tournaments despite injury concerns. The 21-time Major champion is scheduled to play at the Tel Aviv Open this week. He will later compete at the Astana Open between October 3-9. The Serb then intends to participate in the Paris Masters. He also revealed that his aim was to qualify for the Nitto ATP finals in Turin.
"The goal is to try to make the Turin. I'm in a good position. I will play Tel Aviv & a 500 in Kazakhstan, and then the schedule was to play Bercy and Turin. So let's see if it stays this way or something changes," he said.
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