Novak Djokovic had an inspiring run that the recent Australian Open to conquer his 9th slam Down Under. As per his own words, Novak had to go through many distracting issues. Novak was widely and unfairly attacked for making some innocent requests to help the players during the quarantine. During a recent interview, Nole admitted that he felt sad feeling to be “Persona non grata” in Australia.
The abdominal injury
Then the Serbian legend had to deal with a nasty abdominal injury suffered during his match against Taylor Fritz. Novak found the strength and the focus to complete and win that match. However, his incredible performance sparked doubts about the entity of his injury. Novak was once again accused unfairly of faking the injury.
The update, the MRI
After winning the tournament, Novak wanted to explain what happened. He said that after the injury, he couldn’t practice on the off days. Instead, he was spending at least 10 hours on a bed with his physio to accelerate his recovery.
Novak had an MRI after his match against Fritz and that showed a tear of 1.7 cm. Unfortunately, he had another MRI after his Australian Open final that showed a 2.5 cm tear.
“I just came actually came from another MRI that I’ve done this morning and the damage is bigger than what it was when it happened when I did the first MRI after the third round,” said Novak.
It’s not too bad, judging by what the doctor said, but I’ll have to take some time off and heal. The tear is bigger.”
Novak is not scheduled to play in the next 3 weeks. He may probably rest up until the Miami Open that is scheduled to play on the 22 March. Novak may even opt to come back only for the clay-court season to spend more time with his family. In this case, he may choose to be back in Monte Carlo (12th of April).
Novak Djokovic in 2021
Currently ranked no.1, Novak played his last match on the 21st of February when he defeated Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-2 6-2 in the final of the Australian Open to win his 82nd career title.
This season the Serbian has a 9-0 match record. Djokovic has won 1 title at the Australian Open.
