It pre-existed and it might threaten his Roland-Garros : what we know about Novak Djokovic’s right knee injury
Novak Djokovic used the maximum dose of medication to overcome the pain in his right knee against Cerundolo. But he still didn’t know if he could play his quarter-final right after his win
Novak Djokovic, Roland-Garros 2024 | © Chryslène Caillaud / Panoramic
Novak Djokovic had started his 2024 Roland-Garros saying he would not open the Pandora’s box of media attention on the physical concerns he had during the clay season.
The box opened itself on Monday, as the Serbian had to play most of his round of 16 match against Francisco Cerundolo with obvious right knee pain, caused — in his opinion — by a slip due to improper care of the clay court. However, Djokovic also noted that at least some of his knee condition already existed prior to the match.
He could play with it thanks to medication, but will he be able to show up against Casper Ruud in quarter-finals? Even he doesn’t know.
What is Djokovic’s right knee injury ?
From ‘discomfort’ to a dangerous slip
Djokovic was clear on the fact that the small concern he had about his knee during his tournament preparation would not have morphed into an injury without the slip. He didn’t say which part of the knee seemed to be impacted.
What Djokovic said : “Well, for the last couple weeks I have had, I would say, slight discomfort in the right knee, but I haven’t had an injury that could be concerning me at all. I was playing a few tournaments with it, and no issues until today. Of course late finish from few nights ago (against Musetti) didn’t help the sleeping, the biorhythm, and recovery, but I actually felt great coming into the match, as good as I could under the circumstances and played really well first set.
“I did carry it with me for a couple of weeks, but I did not feel that it was affecting me on the court. Meaning that as soon as I would warm up, I would feel fine. I would run, I would do splits, slides, whatever. You know, it wasn’t any kind of an issue when I start to play.”
“When I was cold, that’s where I felt the discomfort. We did put an extra care and attention to the knee in the last few days, my physio and I. It’s like we, you know, predicted something might happen, so yeah, that helped, but I don’t know.
“Today is just one of these things when you’re on the court, you slip, do a bad move, you’re in an unstable, unbalanced position. I guess that’s probably a weaker part of my body that has had some few weeks of history, I guess, that reacted, you know. It’s unplanned and unpredictable injury, and yeah, so I have to, I guess, rethink or reprogram with my medical team and physio the recovery time and focus it mostly on the knee.”
How did Djokovic injure himself against Cerundolo?
“One of the many times that I slipped and fell today”
Angry that he was denied the opportunity to sweep the court more often than usual due to the poor conditions of the clay, Djokovic said that the Philippe-Chatrier surface was more slippery than usual and that was the cause of his painful slip.
What Djokovic said : “In the third game of the second set I slipped, one of the many times that I slipped and fell today. That affected the knee. Then I started feeling the pain and asked for the physio treatment and the medical timeout. I tried to take care of it. It did disrupt me definitely in play. For two sets, two sets and a half, I didn’t want to stay in the rally too long. Every time he would make sudden dropshots or change directions, I would not be feeling comfortable to do the running.
“In the very next game I saw that the care did not help so much. The physio did his best, of course, (…) but I saw that I was not able to do the 100%. I was not able to change directions the way I wanted. I was not able to run on many of the dropshots he played. Francisco saw it, and so he played a lot of dropshots where most of them, I just looked at and that’s it. Didn’t move.”
Why did Djokovic not retire ?
“That was the maximum dose that kicked in”
During most of the third and fourth set, the French crowd could reasonably expect that Djokovic would retire. His lack of speed and flexibility was obvious. The Serbian considered such a decision but instead gave himself a chance as long as he thought the pain could be treated by medication.
What Djokovic said : “At one point I didn’t know, to be honest, whether I should continue or not with what’s happening. I got the medications, and then after the third set was done, I asked for more medications, and I got them. That was the maximum dose that kicked in, as I heard now from doctor after 30 to 45 minutes, which was just about the time kind of end of the fourth when things started to really improve for me. I started to feel less limitations in my movement. Basically the whole fifth set was almost without any pain, which is great. But then the effect of the medications will not last for too long, so I’ll see.
“The reason why I continued is because I really wanted to see whether an extra anti-inflammatories and medications that I’m gonna take are going to kick in and actually help me reduce some of the limitations, which is what happened. After the third set was done, I asked for doctor to come and give me something extra. He said, Okay, this is it. That’s all I can give you right now and I can’t give you more. It was enough. After 45 minutes it kicked in, and it was enough to enable me to play my best at the end of the match.”
Did Musetti’s laTE finish haVE an impact on Djokovic’s body condition? Probably not – “physically, I’m okay”
What Djokovic said : “Thankfully I was able to recover quickly. I slept most of that day on Sunday, and did a lot of physio work and some of the water work as well, some of the exercises that always helps reduce the strain on the joints and muscles, and tried to get a decent sleep again, which I did.
“I warmed up well. I came to the court for the next match, the first set was great. I didn’t feel that the last match has affected me so much that I’m unable to, you know, run or to sustain – the level I played for over four-and-a-half hours, it was longer than the match against Musetti. So physically I’m okay.”
Will Djokovic be able to play his quarter-final?
No clue at this stage
Djokovic will spend most of his Tuesday monitoring his pain and doing some check-ups at a hospital. His quater-final against Ruud is in limbo, but he knows he can sustain a Grand Slam being injured – like he has in the past.
What Djokovic said : “We have done some with doctor right now after the match. Some positive news but also some maybe concerns, so let’s see. I can’t tell you more about it at the moment. I guess we’ll do some more screening and tests and checkups on Tuesday. I’m glad that I was able to play fifth set and last three, four games of the fourth without feeling that pain that I felt for two-and-a-half sets. But yeah, you never know what will happen tomorrow.
“I have had situations in my career where I had muscle tears and different things and played with that during the tournament. I’m not the only one. Many players have played with different injuries. There are medications, anti-inflammatories, stuff that you can do. The adrenaline, of course, that kicks in, that helps you go through the tournament. Sometimes is a match or two, sometimes the entire tournament. Good thing about the Slams is that you have a day between that will allow hopefully the healing process to happen more efficiently for me.
“I don’t know what will happen these two days. if I’ll be able to step out on the court and play. I hope so.”
He gave further information to the Serbian press in their language, saying: “I don’t want to get into too much detail (about the state of my knee), I don’t feel it’s appropriate to share it with you guys. I hope to receive positive news tomorrow, tomorrow is the most important exam, the MRI – it will show the real state to see where we’re at.
“There is a risk of my withdrawing before the match, depending on the results (of the MRI). Let’s see how much damage there is to the knee. It’s not in my hands anymore, I will pray. Yes, I will do some things to help speed up the recovery, but with the knee – being one of the most important joints for the movement – there is only so much one can do… You can’t ‘avoid’ the knee. I’ve had muscle tears in Australia – stomach, thigh – you can tape it, do this and that, but the knee, it’s a whole different approach and method of recovery.”
