The last sets played in the 3rd round of Wimbledon had led to the assumption that Novak Djokovic’s conditions were apparently improving, after the surgery three weeks ago to the meniscus of his right knee. The Serbian champion will face the Danish tennis player Holger Rune in a few hours, in the 4th round of Wimbledon. It will be probably the first big obstacle on his path, after three rounds that were all in all easy.
In an interview a few hours ago for SportKlub, Nole analyzed his physical conditions, responding to those who claim that he has completely well recovered from the surgery. The Serb denied the thesis, saying that the situation is not yet resolved.
“I’m happy that you think everything is fine, in fact that’s how it should be, but the reality is very different, everything is far from ok. Of course, I moved better than in the first two matches, I’m playing freely if we want to say it in this sense, we are working with the physiotherapist to recover and be able to play every match,” explained the Serb.
At the end of the match won against Popyrin, Djokovic celebrated by exulting miming playing the violin and at the end of the match he explained the reason for all this: “My exultation was for my daughter Tara, she has been playing the violin for a while now, over six months, and we had a pact that I would celebrate in that way.”
In these first few days, Nole is trying to regain confidence with the court and matches, after the injury; a situation in some ways also normal, considering that we are talking about a tennis player who had surgery on his meniscus less than a month ago and returned to training about 15 days later, making himself ready for this third and long-awaited Major tournament right at the last minute. Djokovic could have given up and decided to prepare for Paris Olympics as best he could, but he didn’t and showed once again all his tenacity. For some, Nole is already doing very well but things are very different from what it seems as remarked by Nole himself.
Rune also talked about the physical conditions of his next opponent in the 4th round of the Championships, analyzing how – in his opinion – Djokvoic moves normally on the court.
“I expect a tough battle. It’s always like that when you play against Novak Djokovic. He’s one of the toughest tennis players of all time and one of the most successful. I expect a very high level. I know he had surgery recently, but to tell the truth I trained with him the first week and he seems to move well, with confidence. I will have to play my best tennis if I want to have a chance of beating him. That’s what I will try to do,” he said.
The Serb also expressed at the press conference on the young Dane, explaining what Rune needs to get the same level of Carlitos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
“He is a spectacular player, who loves the big events and playing these matches. I will need my best tennis to win. Holger has always had a great work ethic. If he sees something that is not right, he works to improve it. That is what I have always liked most about him. He is a complete tennis player. He probably lacks a little bit of consistency in terms of results compared to Sinner and Alcaraz, but he is ready to do great things. Maybe he needs a little more time mentally to mature and understand how to play in certain moments, but he has enough experience already for being only 21 years old. I get along very well with him, he is a great guy. He has always behaved very well with my team and I always try to be there for him, both for training and for some advice. His mother and sister have always been very nice to us, we get along, we respect each other and I think we have similar tennis styles. When it comes to playing and competing on the court, we both have that inner fire. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of energy on the pitch on Monday,” he said.
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