“Haven’t felt any pain” – Djokovic happy with recovery but wary of Berrettini in Doha
Ahead of his Qatar Open first round, Novak Djokovic has “no concern” about his leg injury he sustained at the Australian Open
Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors
On Tuesday, Novak Djokovic will play his first singles match after an injury-forced retirement at the 2025 Australian Open a few weeks ago. He’s pitted against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the opening round of the Qatar Open.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion tore a muscle in his left leg during the quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz and had to quit midway through his semi-final against Alexander Zverev.
He already tested his fitness by taking the court alongside Fernando Verdasco for doubles duty in Doha. They overcame the duo of Alexander Bublik and Karen Khachanov on Monday without breaking a sweat (6-1, 6-1).
After the win, Djokovic updated the media about his recovery, suggesting he’s fit to fulfill singles duties.
“I haven’t felt any pain, so I’ve been feeling great training the past 10 days, and past three days here in Doha,” the 37-year-old said. “Today’s doubles match, obviously it’s different from singles, but it’s still a match, and you do have very dynamic movements that you have to do on the court, where you kind of test your body and how it feels. It felt great, so I have no concern. I obviously focused mostly on my recovery of the muscle tear that I had. I recovered very well, then I started to train.”
He, however, is wary of his first-round opponent Berrettini, a former top 10 player:
“Very powerful player, big game, big serve, forehand, just great hands. He brings a lot of strength and a lot of power in his shots. I know his game well, it’s not an ideal draw for me, not in the first round. But it’s also, in a sense, good for me to be really locked in from the first point of the first match, and not take any chances against anyone.”
Notably, Djokovic leads the Italian 4-0 in the head-to-head, most famously beating the latter in 2021 Wimbledon final.
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