Djokovic plays down injury concerns at Roland-Garros
The Serbian is confident he will be able to recover in time for the third round after spending more than three hours on court against Moutet
© Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors
Novak Djokovic fans will have had a sinking feeling of deja vu on Thursday evening when he began hobbling late in the third set of his second-round match against Corentin Moutet at Roland-Garros in Paris.
The Serbian has been forced to withdraw injured from two of the last four Grand Slams, with a torn meniscus ending his French Open campaign in 2024, and a hamstring tear halting him in Melbourne earlier this year.
Coming into the event off the back of a title run in Geneva, question marks hovered over just how much the 38-year-old’s body could endure.
Thankfully, Djokovic dispelled any concerns after his 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(1) win over Moutet, assuring the media that his ailment was a straight-forward blister.
“I’m pretty fit at the moment,” he said. “I don’t feel like I have any major issues.
“It took me almost an hour to deal with the blister and the bleeding that I had. They had to use the injections and draw the blood out and then inject something to dry out the blister. That was not really a pleasant process. But it is something that anyone who has blisters that are bleeding has to do it.
“I don’t think it’s going to be an issue for me to recover. I mean, three hours was a lot of running, straight sets, but a three-hour match is a good three-hour session. Good thing about slams obviously you have a day in between. So plenty of time to recover and get ready for next one.”
Djokovic’s draw is opening up nicely in Paris, with world No 153 Filip Misolic waiting in the third round, followed by a clash against the winner of Cam Norrie and Jacob Fearnley – two players outside the world’s top 50 – if he makes the round of 16.
