MELBOURNE, Australia – The grimace on Novak Djokovic’s face after slipping on the white “MELBOURNE” inscription behind the baseline at Rod Laver Arena was enough to suggest chances no.
In the third round at Melbourne Park on February 12, Djokovic seemed to win a straight set victory over American Taylor Fritz, when he fell awkwardly and immediately signaled to the coach. After a long medical period, Djokovic returned to court, but appeared significantly impeded in his movement and in severe pain.
The 17-time major champion felt continuously around the right side of the abdomen, often trying to stretch it between points. He shuddered frequently as he watched the balls, giving up a crowd that was hit just meters from both sides of his rocket.
In an instant, Fritz tied the game at two sets each and for the first time in the tournament, there should have been a real concern in Djokovic’s camp. But the Serb made the decision 6-2, escaping a huge roar inside the center field when he secured the match point after three hours and 25 minutes.
“I know it’s a broken muscle, for sure,” said a deflated Djokovic immediately after the game. “I don’t know if I will be able to recover in less than two days. I’m not sure if I will be able to play the next match.”
There has not yet been a proper diagnosis made public about the 33-year-old Djokovic, making his health the biggest mystery in the middle weekend of the Australian Open. The question remains: Would he be able to continue looking for a new record record Down Under and if not, who would climb and lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup?
Much of the speculation that followed Fritz’s victory was that Djokovic’s injured muscle was the right oblique, one of two diagonally oriented abdominal muscles that run from the rib cage to the anterior torso or pelvis. An extreme amount of stress is put on these muscles in sports that require a high rotation, such as tennis. And few, if any, in this sport put more stress and pressure on their bodies than Djokovic.
It takes an average person between eight and 10 weeks to fully recover from a broken oblique, according to Harvard Medical School, but Djokovic only had 48 hours to get along correctly for his first-round match. fourth against the 2016 Wimbledon finalist, Milos Raonic.
Djokovic was absent from the ward on the 6th, but returned on Sunday for a light gymnastics session, which consisted of stretching and jogging, before stepping on John Cain Arena for an afternoon training shot.
A few hours later, he squeaked and slid around Rod Laver Arena, again mimicking the defensive qualities of a brick wall and leaving Raonic scratching his head in a combination of distrust and frustration. Djokovic may have worn a large anti-inflammatory patch on the right side of his abdomen, but suddenly he looked more like the player we’ve been accustomed to seeing over the years. If fans hadn’t known about his collapse in the previous match, he would never have guessed that he was dealing with a potentially serious injury.
Djokovic needed just under three hours to send Raonic 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, to record his 300th Grand Slam victory and for to advance to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for a record 12 times. How could he cope with such a deed with what he thinks is obliquely broken?
“The term ‘muscle rupture’ can often trigger alarm bells, but they are generally scalable and rated one to three,” said Stephania Bell, an ESPN injury analyst. “Grade 1, which could be, suggests little or no structural damage and, although painful, may not seriously affect the function in a serious way. Sometimes an athlete may feel a blow or traction and this is what makes them refer to it as A tear.
“A full tear would probably prevent him from playing, given the pain and the functional compromise. Things that require power, such as serving, and things that put muscles on an extreme stretch, such as wide stretch to get a shot, maybe even some cross-shooting, would be a challenge for Djokovic if he had an oblique tear complete “.
After the victory against Raonic, Djokovic confirmed that he underwent an MRI in Melbourne and now knows the extent of the injury, although he did not provide specific details again. As long as he is still standing in the tournament, he is not eager to share his diagnosis with his rivals.
“I understand you want to know, but I really don’t want to get into what it is,” he told reporters. “It’s not ideal for me. I mean, I definitely felt better. The combination of analgesics, treatment and a certain willpower [is getting me through], but I don’t want to talk about it now. It is irrelevant. “
Djokovic’s ability to recover in such a short time and then overtake Raonic is something that has attracted the attention of many people on the tour, including Serena Wiliams’ longtime coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
“Sometimes Novak plays with an opponent’s mind when he has problems,” Mouratoglou told Tennis Majors. “He pretends to give up and then boom. He plays again. He’s done this many times in the past.”
Former Australian double icon Todd Woodbridge also weighed in, saying: “It will be fine. I would tell the rest of the field, beware, because I’ve seen him do these kinds of things before, they have a bit of a hiccup and they still win majorities. “
This is not the first time Djokovic has had to fight a Grand Slam injury. At Wimbledon, in 2017, he struggled with a stifling elbow disease, however he still reached the quarterfinals.
At the 2019 US Open, he retired in the fourth round, after a left shoulder injury was better, while at last year’s New York tournament, he struggled stiffly to reach the round of father. He dropped just one set in his first three matches, before being implicit because he hit a man in the neck in his equalizer against Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
Djokovic will now face Alexander Zverev, who defeated 23rd seed Dusan Lajovic in straight sets, with the winner advancing to the semifinals. As Djokovic’s injury is still a mystery, there is no guarantee that he will be able to face the German, although many had similar thoughts before his match against Raonic.
“If it was another tournament, I would retire. I certainly wouldn’t play,” Djokovic said. “But it’s a Grand Slam. It matters a lot to me at this stage of my career. I have to accept the circumstances and the state I’m in right now and that I’ll probably feel the pain all the time.
“Against Sascha, there will probably be more rallies, exhausting rallies. He will be demanding from me, right from the back of the court. It is in God’s hands where my condition goes from today to the first point against Sascha. [but] if I feel 10%, I like my chances. “
If Djokovic really broke his oblique, regardless of the degree of injury, it will be a driving case, as opposed to completely healing him before the end of the tournament.
“Most of his time between suffering the initial accident and his next round will be spent in recovery, receiving treatment,” Bell said. “Given the requirements of a Grand Slam tournament, balancing recovery while maintaining conditioning and willingness to play will be the challenge.”
Djokovic’s record on the blue courts in Melbourne Park is 76-5, and after the fourth round it is an even more impressive 24-3. Even at 75% healthy, Djokovic would probably still be favored to beat almost everyone left on his way to Slam No. 18.