Novak Djokovic injury: Australian Open chief issues update as star ‘misses practice’

Australian Open: Rafael Nadal reacts to win over Michael Mmoh

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Novak Djokovic is set to undergo a scan on his oblique after sustaining an injury in his win over Taylor Fritz. The world No 1 soldiered on through the pain to win 7-6 (1), 6-4, 3-4, 4-6, 6-2 against the American.

After the triumph, Djokovic conceded that his tournament could be over, raising doubts over whether he can recover in time for the next round where he will face Milos Raonic on Sunday.

Now Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley has issued an update on the Serbian, as they look to determine whether he can continue.

“We’ll see him,” Tiley said. “He’s resilient, he’s tough. He’ll wake up today and he’ll figure out what it is and he’ll go and get the appropriate treatment.

“The way he was, those two sets, I was pretty surprised [he was able to win the match.]

“But I’ve seen him play enough times here, this is his court, he gets comfortable on it and he just picks his game up and up and he’s that good.

“So his health is going to be important and we’ll make a decision later on today on when he plays tomorrow.”

According to ESPN, Djokovic did not practice on Saturday morning and went to Melbourne Park to get approval for his scan.

“I don’t know, I know it’s a tear of the muscle so I don’t know if I’ll be able to recover in two days. I don’t know if I’ll step out on court or not,” he said, after yesterday’s victory over Fritz.

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“I’m very proud of my achievement tonight, let’s see what happens tomorrow.

“I don’t have much time to recover for the next match. Definitely not training tomorrow.

“I’m coming here to evaluate further more with doctor and medical team, and do some ultrasound and understand what’s really going on so that the doctor and medical team can prescribe best possible treatment and the only possible treatment that I could even have the slightest chance to go out in less than 48 hours.”

Meanwhile, former Australian Open champion Mats Wilander claims the door is open for Djokovic’s rivals, should he be forced to withdraw.

“It’s very worrying,” Wilander said in the Eurosport Cube. “I guess the reaction we saw from Novak at the end is a positive because it means that he can possibly fix this injury in a way.

“It does give hope to the locker room because Milos Raonic must be thinking Novak is a little bit injured.

“It gives the other players hope and it’s worrying times for Novak but I think the victory celebrations say it all.

“I think this is something he thinks he can fix.”

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