Novak Djokovic has issued a very encouraging update ahead of his Wimbledon match as the Serb says he hasn’t felt any pain in his knee so far but underlines that he is remaining fully cautious and refusing to be fully convinced that it will 100 percent stay that way.
After having surgery on his torn knee meniscus on June 5th, Djokovic impressively made a comeback at Wimbledon where he has won four matches since. On Wednesday, the 37-year-old was scheduled to also play his fifth post-surgery match but it didn’t happen after Alex de Minaur was forced to pull out of their Wimbledon quarterfinal match due to injury.
Instead, Djokovic – who played his round-of-16 match against Holger Rune on Monday – got a day off on Wednesday. And when Djokovic returns to the court today to take on Lorenzo Musetti in the Wimbledon semifinal, he will be playing a match for the first time in four days.
Addressing that, Djokovic says he wasn’t happy to see de Minaur getting injured but also noted that not having to play that match helped his knee avoid extra stress.
Preparations are going well. Yesterday I surprisingly got an extra day without a match. It is always undesirable when a tennis player gets injured and withdraws from the match, especially if it is the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam. I wish him a speedy recovery,” Djokovic told Sport Klub.
“For me it’s positive that I’m in the semifinals and that I had an extra day of rest without extra pressure on my knee and I have enough time to recover and be physically ready. I have two days of good training, in a family atmosphere. My children are here, so I enjoy every moment.”
Djokovic: I don’t want to be completely free from thinking…
Early in the tournament, Djokovic evidently wasn’t playing his best tennis but it was still enough for him to overcome Vit Kopriva, Jacob Fearney and Alexei Popyrin. In the round-of-16, the record 24-time Grand Slam champion looked way better and ousted Rune in straight sets.
But for Djokovic, the most important thing throughout the tournament was his knee staying pain-free. The 37-year-old is thrilled about it but admits he is aware that something could possibly change in a second.
“For now, everything is good. I always say ‘for now,’ because I don’t want to be completely convinced and free from thinking that something can happen. I won’t say that I am thinking about it, but there is always a possibility, because the operation was close to the tournament. Since the beginning of Wimbledon, I have not felt pain, only on a couple of occasions, but nothing worrying. We do everything we do to be in the best possible shape,” Djokovic said.
Djokovic not taking Musetti for granted
When Wimbledon started, it was hard to envision Musetti being Djokovic’s semifinal opponent as the likes of Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz were also possible rivals for the Serb in this stage of the tournament. But today, Djokovic will be battling against world No. 25 Musetti for his 10th Wimbledon final spot.
Heading into the match, Djokovic leads their head-to-head convincingly 5-1. But after Musetti finished as runner-up at the Queen’s Club and also upset Fritz in the Wimbledon quarterfinal, the seven-time Wimbledon champion underlines that he will take the 22-year-old Italian very seriously.
“You always try to play your tennis to the best of your ability. On the other hand, you have to adapt tactically to your opponent. Tomorrow is Musetti, I played him on clay both times this year, which is his favorite surface, but he also played very well on grass this year… Queen’s final, Wimbledon semi-final,” Djokovic said.
“He will surely come out with the intention to win and do his best. He is very talented, we all know that. He beat some good players, the last one was Fritz who, I would say, was the favorite, but we saw a great match in five sets. I know what to do. Today and in training, I did some tactics that I will apply tomorrow. I hope for the best.”
In the past, Djokovic and Musetti played four times on clay and twice on hard courts. This year, they have met twice – with the Serb winning both of their matches at the Monte Carlo Masters and French Open.
When it comes to Musetti’s lone win over Djokovic, it happened on the clay courts of Monte Carlo in 2023.
On grass, Djokovic has way more experience and success and there is no doubt that the seven-time Wimbledon champion enters this match as the big favorite.
