June 4, (THEWILL)- Tennis world number one, Novak Djokovic, faces an anxious wait to see if he can continue his French Open title defence after aggravating a knee injury during his epic five-set fourth-round win over Francisco Cerundolo on Monday.
The 37-year-old Serbian required medication and medical timeouts to get through the 6-1 5-7 3-6 7-5 6-3 victory over the Argentine after falling and tweaking his right knee.
Djokovic revealed he had been dealing with knee discomfort for a couple of weeks before the injury flared up badly when he slipped early in the second set against Cerundolo. He considered retiring at one stage during the 4-hour 39-minute marathon on the slippery Paris clay courts. “I got the medications and after the third set asked for more,” said the top seed. “That was the maximum dose which kicked in after 30-45 minutes at the end of the fourth set.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champion played the fifth set pain-free but warned the medication’s effects would soon wear off. He will undergo further tests on Tuesday, ahead of a potential quarter-final against 2023 runner-up, Casper Ruud. “I can’t tell you more at the moment,” Djokovic admitted. “I’m glad I could play the fifth set without that pain but you never know what will happen tomorrow.”
Djokovic blamed the drier conditions after a week of rain for making the courts overly slippery. He claimed his requests to have the courts swept more frequently during matches were denied by officials. “The injury happened because I slipped and slid too many times which is unusual,” he said. “This could possibly have been prevented with more frequent court maintenance.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
