Novak Djokovic He arrived in London surrounded by doubts, just 18 days after the operation he underwent on his right knee, after suffering a tear in the medial meniscus during the duel he won against Francisco Cerúndolo in Roland Garros. When he made public his time under the knife, imagining him competing in Wimbledon It sounded like utopia. But the Serbian beat time again and this Thursday, in an intense training session against Jannik Sinnerseemed to remove all doubts. “I feel good”, he assured. And when asked by a group of journalists about whether his name would appear in the draw this Friday, he responded with a huge smile and a raised thumb.
The center court of the All England opened its doors, as happens in every edition, for the best in the world to test the grass and acclimatize the surface for the start of the tournament, which will get underway on Monday. Carlos Alcaraz y Daniil Medvedev They were the first to step onto the immaculate court, and then Djokovic and Sinner appeared on the scene, dressed to the nines and wearing caps to protect themselves from the strong sun.
All eyes were on the Serbian, who had trained with Federico Coria y Frances Tiafoe. But the rally against the powerful tennis of the Italian, number one in the world and who has just claimed champion in Hallewas to be the final test to see if the knee was ready for the challenge of five-set battles at the British Grand Slam. And that is Absent I had warned a few days ago: “I didn’t come here to get through a few rounds. I’m only going to play if I can do my best. If I feel like I’m in a position to go far and fight for the title.”
What was seen during the 45 minutes of practice seemed to leave him very satisfied. Sinner, who won 6-3 in a set that lasted just over 30 minutes played at match intensity, did not hold anything back. And the Serbian, wearing a grey knee brace to protect the injured area, moved very fluidly, ran away from all the balls that came from the other side of the net and did not show any pain or discomfort.
They did not complete a second set, in which Absent had broken for 2-1, because the stipulated time for practice ran out. The number two in the world, however, stayed a while longer on the court, where he inspected a machine to cut the grass and even posed for a photo with the “cancheros”, whom he congratulated on the “amazing and perfect” condition of the machine. surface. And as he was leaving, he greeted the reporters with a “See you guys”. In the painting draw? Smile and raised thumb.
At 37 years old, Djokovic wants to add his 25th “major” title, which would break the tie with Margaret Court and would become the biggest winner of Majors of history.
That unprecedented conquest escaped him in Australiawhere he lost in the semi-finals to Sinner, at the start of what would become a strange and too irregular season for his standards. Also in Roland Garrosbecause the injury he suffered against Cerúndolo later forced him to leave the tournament before the quarterfinal clash that he was supposed to play with Casper Ruud. And it seemed that at Wimbledon he wasn’t even going to have the chance to look for it. But, against all odds, the Serbian defied the medical times and gave himself the opportunity.
Less than two weeks after the operation on June 5, he was seen on social media doing physical work on grass and hitting balls on a cement court. On Sunday he landed in London and began testing his tennis on the court. And now he passed a very tough test against Sinner.
Djokovic did not verbally confirm that he will play in the All Englandwhere he lifted the trophy on seven occasions. However, the feeling left by the training at the centre was that his knee is now strong enough to withstand the demands of one of the toughest competitions on the calendar.
Alcaraz is ready and Murray is waiting
Before that session that featured Djokovic and Sinner – who, with nothing to prove, made it clear that he will start as one of the great candidates to lift the trophy – Alcaraz and Medvedev “opened” the grass of the main stage of the All EnglandAnd the Murcian, world number three and defending champion, also cleared up the doubts that his failed stint in Queen’swhere he lost in the second round to Jack Drapercould not defend the title and lost points that allowed him to Absent move it from the second step.
Already without the “sleeve” with which he had played on the powder tour, after recovering from an injury to the pronator teres in his right arm, he was clearly superior to Medvedev and won 6-2 and 1-0 (the clock cut also practice at the start of the second set), in his return to center court since his victory in last year’s final against Djokovic.
Looking ahead to this Friday’s draw, it seems that the only unknown that remains is Andy MurrayAnd we will have to wait until Sunday to find out if the Scottish champion Major British in 2013 and 2016, whether or not he will play for the last time at home. He himself assured that he will not make the decision until the last minute.
“Maybe it’s my ego, but I think I’ve earned the right to give myself until the last moment to make a decision. It’s complicated and it’s made more complicated because I want to play Wimbledon one more time… so I’ll take as long as I can to see how I have recovered,” he commented.
Sir Andy retired eight days ago after playing just five games in the second round of Queen’s due to problems in his right leg caused by persistent back discomfort. As reported on Sunday The Telegraphunderwent surgery for a spinal cyst in the spine, which left his participation in the grande English. And although he returned to tennis training on Wednesday, there is no certainty about his participation.
“They asked me ‘Are you going to withdraw before the draw at 10am on Friday?’. No, I will wait until the last minute,” he said. And he left a different possibility up in the air: “I would say that most likely I won’t be able to play singles right now. Playing doubles with Jamie (his brother) is something I never did here. That can be special too. Maybe that’s what was meant to happen.”
The British chain BBC reported that the tournament offered the Murrays a wild card for the doubles draw, in case Andy is fit to play it.
“For everything I dedicated to this sport in recent years, I would like to say goodbye by playing a good game, in which I can at least be competitive, not what happened at Queen’s,” added who plans to hang up his racket in the coming months. , maybe at Wimbledon or maybe in the Paris Olympics.
2024-06-27 20:15:00
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