Novak Djokovic seems always to face weird situations when he has to play Pablo Carreno-Busta in a slam recently. The world no.1 defaulted during the last US Open when facing the Spaniard after unintentionally hitting a line judge at the throat. On Wednesday, things started to look complicated again for the Serbian sensation right before playing Pablo in the French Open quarter-finals.
Djokovic’s neck injury
Novak took the court with a huge and scary plaster on his neck and he didn’t seem to be fully fit. Eventually, after losing the first set, he had some medical attention to then conquer the match in 4 sets playing like a champion.
Pablo Carreno-Busta later blasted Djokovic, saying that he always asks for a medical time-out when he loses. However, this time the world no.1 was in real trouble with his body.
After the match, Novak confessed that he wasn’t even sure if he was able to play the match. The world no.1 confessed that something happened during his warm-up and he had his physio and ATP doctor trying to help him for 2 hours with the only intent of making him decently fit to play.
“I have to admit, it was touch and go for a while; I was not sure whether I would be able to play. In the end we managed to sort it out.” said Novak.
Will Djokovic play the semifinal against Tsitsipas?
Novak will face an extremely fit Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Roland Garros semifinal. The Greek champion has been playing fantastic tennis and Novak needs to be at his very best to contrast Stefanos. There are all reasons to think that Novak will be fit to play the final 4. However, the final response will come in the following hours.
Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas played each other 5 times. The head to head is 3-2 for Djokovic. The last time they played each other, Novak Djokovic won 6-3 6-4 in the final in Dubai (Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships) on the 29th of February 2020.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jqXOgqeY6Q
Djokovic at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2020
Ranked no.1, the Serbian has a 36-1 win-loss record in 2020. The Serbian is now competing at the French Open where he beat Mikael Ymer 6-0 6-2 6-3, Richard Berankis 6-1 6-2 6-2, Daniel Elahi Galan 6-0 6-3 6-2, Karen Khachanov 6-4 6-3 6-3 and Pablo Carreno-Busta 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4.
Novak clinched 4 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open, in Dubai, in New York and in Rome. The Serbian won 82 titles in his career: 48 on hard courts, 15 on clay courts, 13 on indoor courts and 6 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Tsitsipas at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2020
Ranked world no.6, Tsitsipas has a 25-9 win-loss record in 2020. Stefanos is playing at the French Open where he overcame Jaume Antoni Munar Clar 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-4 6-4, Pablo Cuevas 6-1 6-4 6-2, Aljaz Bedene 6-1 6-2 3-1 ret., Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 7-69 6-2 and Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-2 6-3.
Tsitsipas conquered 1 title in 2020 in Marseille. Tsitsipas reached the final in Dubai and in Hamburg. Tsitsipas won 5 titles in his career: 1 on clay courts and 4 on indoor courts. (See the list of his titles)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jqXOgqeY6Q
