World No 1 tennis player, Novak Djokovic says he has torn his stomach muscle and fears the injury might derail his hopes of defending his Australian open title in Melbourne.
He pulled a five-set win against Taylor Fritz to reach the fourth round. His victory came at a huge cost, as he reportedly tore a stomach muscle during the game.
The Serbian took the opening two sets and was on a course for a comfortable victory, but he tumbled at the back of the court in the third set and hurt his side, giving Fritz a chance to win that set.
Djokovic took a medical timeout, but was still given more treatment later-on. Due to this injury, he lost the third and fourth sets but struggled to edge out Fritz in the fifth round, winning 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2.
Speaking about his fresh medical challenge, Djokovic said he had torn a stomach muscle and he is not sure if he would recover in time for the next game on Sunday, which is against Canadian 14th seed, Milos Raonic.
When asked if he could continue in the tournament, he responded;
I really don’t know, my friend. Right now, I know it’s a tear, definitely, of the muscle. So I don’t know if I will manage to recover from that in less than two days. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know if I am gonna step out onto the court or not. I am just proud of this achievement tonight. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
Djokovic said he will seek medical advice to determine is next line of action and would not train at Melbourne Park on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s game.
He stressed;
Everything was working fine for me and then at the beginning of the third set, I made this quick move on the return going to the forehand, rotating there, and I just felt a tear I felt something happen. I went out for medical timeout when I was tested, evaluated. I have huge pain, I took the highest dose of anti-inflammatories possible.
It did kick in the end of fourth, beginning of the fifth when I actually started to move and I could actually start to rally with him from back of the court. I honestly don’t know how I won this match, I am very proud, at the same time sad and worried because it’s definitely something serious happening with my injury.
The No 1 seed is unsure if he will be fit to face Milos Raonic on Sunday in the fourth-round game.
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