Almost no one imagined it. Forced to withdraw before his quarter-final at Roland-Garros at the beginning of June after being injured against Francisco Cerundolo in the eighth, Novak Djokovic had to resolve to undergo surgery, carried out three weeks ago. Victim of a meniscus injury in his right knee, his participation in Wimbledon, which starts this Monday, seemed totally improbable.
However, the record holder for Grand Slam titles (24) will indeed compete for an eighth title on the English grass. Better still, “Nole” is suffering more: he even played “without pain” during an exhibition match against Daniil Medvedev on Friday in London, three days before the start of the tournament. “I can tell you that I really enjoyed myself. Tennis without pain is the best! I didn’t have any pain and I’m very happy about it,” said the Serb after winning 6-3, 6-4 against the world’s 5th player at the Hurlingham Club.
“I had played a few practice sets but I wanted to give it a real test. It is a success. The last three weeks were intense, I spent a lot of time on rehabilitation,” said the seven-time Wimbledon winner, who wore a knee bandage but never seemed hampered in his game.
Djokovic, 37, has been handed the world number 123, the Czech Vit Kopriva, as his opponent in the first round of the British Major, where he will be seeded number two, having ceded the world number one spot to the Italian Jannik Sinner at the end of Roland-Garros.
“I really wanted to give myself a chance to play at Wimbledon. I think my surgeon is here. He’s the MVP of the last three weeks,” said the man with 98 titles on the ATP circuit, full of humor.
