Novak Djokovic has revealed he has had a knee problem for the last couple of weeks as he is into an 18th Roland Garros quarter-final.
The world number one is into the last eight at Roland Garros after a five set thriller against Francisco Cerundolo.
Djokovic had to come back from two sets to one and a break down in order to progress in a four and a half hour thriller.
The result means the defending champion is set for a final rematch from last year with Casper Ruud.
However it wasn’t all good news for Djokovic as for the majority of the match it was evident that he was suffering from a knee problem.
The problem could have been as a result of the Serb’s late night five set clash with Lorenzo Musetti in the previous round.
It turns out that isn’t the case and Djokovic revealed he has suffered with a problem for the last two weeks, “Well, for the last couple weeks I have had, I would say, slight discomfort, I would call it that way, in the right knee, but I haven’t had an injury that would be concerning me at all. I was playing a few tournaments with it, and no issues until today,” Djokovic detailed in his post-match press conference.
“Of course late finish from few nights ago 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. Then 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.
“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, you know. But then the effect of the medications will not last for too long, so I’ll see.
“I guess we’ll do some more screening and tests and check-ups tomorrow, as well. We have done some with doctor right now after the match. Some positive news but also some maybe concerns, so let’s see tomorrow. I can’t tell you more about it at the moment. 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, you know, 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 slam is that you have a day between that will allow hopefully the healing process to happen more efficiently for me. That’s it. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or after tomorrow if I’ll be able to step out on the court and play. You know, I hope so. Let’s see what happens.”
So Djokovic admits he is a doubt for Wednesday’s quarter-final against Ruud as he will aim to gain revenge against the Norwegian for their match in Monte-Carlo which Ruud one.
However that wasn’t the only problem Djokovic had in the contest as he complained on multiple occasions about the state of the court.
Djokovic had asked for the court to be swept after every second changeover but his request was denied and as a result the Serb slipped on more than one occasion.
Speaking about the controversy Djokovic has revealed that his team are speaking to Roland Garros officials about the incident, “I’ve had a conversation with the chair umpire where I just asked, you know, would it be possible to sweep the court? I understand not every changeover but every second, every third changeover. You know, not to wait for a set to finish but to have just slightly more frequent care of the court. She said she’ll check, and she spoke to the grounds people or supervisor, supervisor to grounds people, and the answer was no,” Djokovic explained.
“I asked for supervisor to have a conversation, and I just asked for explanation. Look, I’m not pointing fingers, that it’s someone is blaming whoever, a group or an individual of why that’s the case. I’m just trying to understand in this whole process what is the damage to the court to sweep it — anyway, we do it with our feet, you know.
“So, yeah, I know that currently, you know, some of my team members are also having a conversation with the Roland Garros people, just trying to understand. I’m just trying to understand why it is, you know, so complicating to do that and why it is that the answer is constantly no. I don’t get it.
“We cannot treat these conditions as common conditions. They are not common. You know, we had rain. We had really bad weather for days, even a week. So that has affected the court itself. So I’m sure that the grounds people have their hands full. I know they’re working very hard. I’m not saying they are doing it the wrong way. Absolutely not. They are doing their best.
“I’m just trying to understand, you know, if a player is feeling a certain way and then, you know, what else do we need to wait for for that to happen? I mean, today I injured myself. Yes, I survived. I won the match. Great. But will I be able to play next one? I don’t know. I don’t know the severity of the injury. But could have this injury be prevented? Possibly, if, you know, if there was just a little bit more of a frequent care of the court during the set. That’s basically all I ask for.”
Djokovic will hope conditions are better on Wednesday as he looks to reach another Grand Slam semi-final.
