Novak Djokovic has been training in Wimbledon for days.Image: keystone
Just three weeks after meniscus surgery on his right knee, Novak Djokovic is aiming for his eighth title at Wimbledon.
29.06.2024, 11:4729.06.2024, 16:35
Simon Häring, Wimbledon / ch media
Carlos Alcaraz is the defending champion at Wimbledon. The 21-year-old recently won at Roland Garros. The Spaniard is now the youngest player in history to win a Grand Slam tournament on hard court, grass and clay – and thus on three different surfaces.
But the man of the last six months is Jannik Sinner. At the beginning of the year, the Italian won the Australian Open. And three weeks ago, the 22-year-old replaced Novak Djokovic at the top of the world rankings.
And yet in men’s tennis in general and in recent weeks in particular, much, if not everything, revolves around Novak Djokovic. The 24-time Grand Slam winner is 37 years old and the Serb led the rankings for 428 weeks. Djokovic is therefore the most successful male tennis player of the decade, of history, but no longer of the present.
Knee surgery three weeks ago
Djokovic has been waiting for a tournament victory for almost eight months, and in 2024 he has not even reached a final. The last time that happened was 18 years ago. While the Serb was long considered obsessed with success, even consumed by ambition, he recently said that there are more important things than tennis.
Health, for example. At the French Open, the Serb withdrew before his quarter-final and then underwent surgery in Paris. The reason for this was a torn meniscus in his right knee. He had already played with the “maximum dose” of painkillers.
Things didn’t go as planned for Djokovic at the French Open.Image: keystone
Das Telefonat mit Djokovics Onkel Goran
The fact that Djokovic is now back on the court, just three weeks later, and is aiming for his eighth title at Wimbledon, is being described by some as a “miracle cure”. Others, however, accuse him of not only faking the injury, but also the operation.
This rumour was started by a Serbian news portal with a highly dubious reputation. It tells the story that Bozidar Maljkovic, the president of the Serbian Olympic Committee, called one of Djokovic’s uncles, who told him that the tennis player had not been operated on. And as is the case with stories – with every translation, with every passing on, the less questioned they were.
So was it all just a nasty hoax? No. A devastating chain of errors, false conclusions and interpretations of half-truths. In this story, Novak Djokovic is the victim of his fame.
The report, which is based on the alleged phone call between Maljkovic and Djokovic’s uncle Goran, was published the day before the operation. The statement is therefore not wrong, but it has been taken out of context.
The fact is: Djokovic traveled to London at the beginning of the week, trained twice at a lower intensity and played one and a half training sets with Jannik Sinner on Thursday, the day before the draw. Afterwards, the 37-year-old said that nothing stood in the way of him taking part in Wimbledon. On Tuesday, Djokovic will face Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva (ATP 123).
Only one defeat since 2016
Despite the disappointing results this year, Djokovic is doing so with the same high ambitions. “That may sound arrogant to many. But anything other than winning the tournament would not be satisfying for me,” he said before the French Open. A tournament that he has “only” won three times. Djokovic already has seven wins at Wimbledon.
Last year, he suffered his first defeat since 2015 in the final against Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, his first on Centre Court in ten years (!) and the 2013 final against Andy Murray. Djokovic told British TV channel BBC: “I only compete when I know I can play my best tennis and fight for the title.”
If Novak Djokovic wins Wimbledon for the eighth time, he will equal the previous record winner among men – currently Roger Federer. That would not be a surprise, but given the circumstances leading up to the tournament, it would be a remarkable achievement. Once again.
All Grand Slam titles of Novak Djokovic
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All Grand Slam titles of Novak Djokovic
US Open 2023: Djokovic – Medwedew 6:3, 7:6, 6:3.
quelle: keystone / justin lane
Novak Djokovic played with these unusual rackets in the run-up to the US Open
Video: watson
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