EFE London 28/06/2024 at 20:39 CEST
After days of insinuations, doubts and uncertainties, Novak Djokovic He proved to be ready for high competition. The Serbian defeated Daniil Medvedev in the Hurlingham exhibition (6-3 and 6-4) and will arrive at Wimbledon with all the guarantees. “I played without pain,” he said.
The Belgrade native, who underwent surgery on his right knee meniscus 23 days ago, took the definitive step on Friday to be at Wimbledon, playing his first full match since beating Francisco Cerúndolo in the round of 16 at Roland Garros just over three weeks ago.
Djokovic injured his meniscus in that match and, after undergoing emergency surgery in Paris, began a race against time that ended on Friday, when it is safe to say that he will be at Wimbledon and there is nothing to suggest that he will not be one of the favourites.
The current number two in the world increased the intensity of his training these days, first working out with Federico Coria, with whom he only played ‘tie breaks’, not sets, later with Frances Tiafoe, whom he defeated in a complete set, and, after a one-day break to go see Serbia in the Euro Cup, with Jannik Sinner, against whom he played one set and part of another.
The ultimate test was to show up, almost by surprisebecause he only announced it a few hours in advance, in the Hurlingham exhibition, in which he already played in the past, to face Medvedev, which he beat without excessive effort.
Djokovic he won a first set in which he was excellent with the serve, winning 88% of the second serves he put into play, and, despite starting losing 1-3 in the second, he took five of the last six games to close his first and only victory on grass before he debuts at Wimbledon next Tuesday.
The Serbian will have an extra day of rest since he has fallen in the lower part of the draw, while the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, current defender of the title and in charge of opening the action on center court, is in the upper part.
With good feelings
After the meetingor, and despite playing with a knee pad, The Serbian confirmed that he is no longer in pain. “What I can tell you is that I really enjoyed today,” he told the interviewer in Hurlingham.
“I have played without painIt has been a great test to be with the best in the world. I have trained well the last few days. I wanted to go out today, test my knee, move and duck into bumps. The test has been a success, it has gone very well,” she said.
“It’s been three very intense weeks, training hard to have a chance to be in London. My surgeon is here (points to the crowd). It’s his fault. Without him it would have been impossible to be here. Now I want to go day by day to see how far I can go.“he added.
Besides, Djokovic said his inspiration for trying to reach Wimbledon was Taylor Fritz, who suffered the same problem as him three years ago and was able to play in London, where he reached the third round, playing matches of four and five sets.
“I’ve had four or five more days. He’s the first person I wrote to and He has been very generous in telling me how it was. I wrote to him and other athletes, Ibrahimovic, Lindsey Vonn, Stan Wawrinka… They have all been very nice sharing contacts that could help me,” added the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
2024-06-28 18:39:00
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