Novak Djokovic was in “Serbinator mode” after he defeated Roger Federer in a highly spectacular final in Wimbledon when he showed his legendary mental strength. Later, the Serbian sensation decided to take a prolonged rest after the Championships to skip the Rogers Cup before playing in Cincinnati.
The injury
Unfortunately, the world no.1 commenced his physical struggles in Ohio where he lost to a fantastic Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal.
The bad news was that in the following US Open, Djokovic was struggling with a left shoulder injury that was creating serious problems to his serve and signature backhand. The Serbian legend managed to reach the 4th round, before surrendering during his match against Stan Wawrinka.
Novak looked in distress to say that he needed to rest for some time, but he was still scheduled to play the upcoming ATP500 in Tokyo (1st – 7th of October).
Unfortunately, renowned New York Time journalist Christopher Clarey disclosed on Twitter that Djokovic’s injury is more problematic than expected. He posted “Hearing that Djokovic’s shoulder is problematic and could require more than just a bit of rest”
Hearing that Djokovic's shoulder is problematic and could require more than just a bit of rest https://t.co/xBe7bAoSBf
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) September 9, 2019
The GOAT race
Novak was extremely upbeat after he won the Wimbledon title to clearly state that he was aiming at breaking Roger Federer’s record as the most week spent at the top of rankings. While Federer was at the top for 310 weeks, Djokovic has been dominating the rankings for 266 weeks. It seemed all set for the Serbinator to break Roger’s record, but everything got complicated after the Serb had a disastrous American summer. In fact, Novak reached just the semifinal in Cincinnati and the 4th round at the US Open. In addition, Nadal is now leading the year to date rankings by almost 2000 points and it seems that he will regain the top of the “normal” rankings after the end of the Shanghai Masters (14th of October).
Another record that Nole seemed poised to break was Roger’s 20 slams. Djokovic has now 16 majors under his belt, but a critical injury may seriously impact his chances also because in the meantime other upcoming players such as Daniil Medvedev are finally rising to the occasion.
Eventually, we need to wait and see what’s the entity of Novak’s injury hoping that it is nothing serious and he can be back stronger than ever. It would not be the first time for him.
The GOAT race is still very much on.
Novak Djokovic’s ranking and performance in 2019
Currently the world no.1, Novak played his last match on the 1st of September when he [LOST TO] Stan Wawrinka 6-4 7-5 2-1 ret. in the 4th round in U.S. Open.
This year Novak has a 41-8 win-loss record. The Serbian clinched 3 titles in 2019 at the Australian Open, in Madrid and in Wimbledon. Novak was the finalist in Rome.
Novak Djokovic |
| Embed from Getty Images |
