Djokovic explains tough decision to stop practice amid injury fears

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Novak Djokovic explained his decision to abandon a practice match at the Australian Open earlier on Wednesday after receiving treatment from the physio three times. The nine-time champion Down Under was facing Daniil Medvedev in a practice open to the crowd when he exited the court 40 minutes early following concerns over his new hamstring injury, and he has now addressed the fears surrounding his new physical setback.

Djokovic tweaked his hamstring muscle during last week’s Adelaide International final and was seen struggling with the issue again on Wednesday as he faced Medvedev in an open practice match on Rod Laver Arena. The world No 5 led by a break at 3-2 when he suddenly called the physio and had treatment during the next three changeovers before ending the match when the Russian won the set 6-4 and leaving the court, with Pablo Adujar replacing him as Medvedev’s practice partner.

It raised concerns after the 35-year-old had previously claimed that he thought the muscle was fine and wouldn’t impact his performances, and Djokovic has now addressed worries over his physical state after abandoning the 75-minute practice session just 36 minutes in. “It’s the hamstring that I had problems with in Adelaide last week against Medvedev when we played semi-finals,” he told 9 News later on Wednesday.

“And I played with him again today in a practice match.” Explaining exactly why he opted to end the practice match after the first set, the 21-time Grand Slam champion admitted that he didn’t want to worsen the issue ahead of the first Major of the season.

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He continued: “I just felt it pulling a bit and I didn’t want to risk anything worse so I played a set and then apologised to him, he was understanding, so I just want to avoid any bigger scares before the Australian Open.”

When Djokovic first tweaked the muscle during his 6-3 6-4 win over the world No 8 last week, he received an off-court medical time-out and later told the crowd that his Australian Open chances did cross his mind when the issue first started. “Well I can’t say that it didn’t cross my mind today on the court, thinking about Melbourne,” he said during his on-court interview.

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The world No 5 pulled up in time for the final the following day, saving a championship point en route to his 92nd career title as he downed Sebastian Korda 6-7(8) 7-6(3) 6-4. Explaining his recovery process between the semi-final and final, Djokovic said at the time: “I woke up all right. Went deep into night last night with work done with the physio. Talk with the doctors, as well, of the tournament, et cetera. There was a lot of care going into today’s match about the hamstring.

“It was all right. Few times in the match I felt was tightening up, the muscle, but nothing that would worry me for my performance.” It remains to be seen whether the injury will affect his performance at the Australian Open or his participation in another blockbuster practice match against Nick Kyrgios in Friday, being billed as the “arena showdown” by the tournament with tickets for the clash selling out in 58 minutes.

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