Djokovic has pre-Australian Open scare at United Cup, pulls out of mixed doubles

Novak Djokovic has won his first match of the year 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-1 against Jiri Lehecka at the United Cup in Perth, but not without giving fans quite the scare along the way.

Things were looking routine for the world No 1 when he led his opponent 6-1, 3-1 after less than an hour’s play. However, with a niggle in his wrist and the stadium lights irritating him, it was clear all was not well with Djokovic.

That soon became very apparent, as the Serbian lost four games in a row to find himself a break down at 3-5 in the second set.

Lehecka briefly stocked Djokovic’s fire when he celebrated his break of serve too dramatically, which saw the set head to a tiebreak.

In uncharacteristic fashion, Djokovic sprayed errors throughout the breaker, going down 7-4 to see a third set occur when no-one expected it.

Djokovic turns on the afterburners, blows Lehecka away

As all great champions do, Djokovic dug deep and turned on the afterburners in the third set. 

After receiving a medical timeout, the 24-time Grand Slam champion looked focused on getting the job done. And that’s exactly what he did, winning the first five games of the set and closing the decider out 6-1 to level the Serbia-Czech Republic tie at 1-1.

“It’s always the greatest honour to represent your country.” Djokovic shared after the match. “It’s also more responsibility, bigger burden as well.”

“Especially if you’re playing in this kind of format, second match, 0-1, more pressure you have to win. But we’re still in the tournament.”

What we know about Djokovic’s wrist injury

Djokovic suffering from a wrist injury was news for even his Serbian team-mates at the United Cup, with the 36-year-old looking fine in his last match on New Year’s Eve.

Against Lehecka, however, there was clear discomfort. Djokovic received attention from the physio at several change of ends, before taking a full medical timeout between the second and third sets. After multiple points, he would shake his wrist in what seemed like an attempt to fix the issue – or perhaps it was simply frustration, given the incident’s timing.

“Yeah [it was sore],” Djokovic responded when questioned about the injury after the match.

“But you know, I managed to play it through. It’s not the first time or the last time these things happen. You just have to manage, and I did.”

This time last year, the Serbian suffered a leg injury in the final of the Adelaide International that threw doubt on his Australian Open chances. He then went on to win the tournament for the loss of only one set.

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