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It’s no secret at this point that Novak Djokovic is dealing with a hamstring issue. He picked up this injury during the Adelaide International event a couple of weeks back. Yet while he has been playing the injury down, there are worrying signs for Djokovic and his fans. Not only did he cut his practice session short yesterday in order to avoid putting too much strain on the hamstring, but he has followed this up by completely cancelling practice tonight.
Needless to say, he would not be cancelling a practice session before the first round of a slam if he wasn’t very concerned. So of course, things aren’t looking fantastic for the nine-time Australian Open champion. And as you may also recall, he came out for the exhibition event with Nick Kyrgios a few nights ago with his hamstring strapped up. Therefore, when you connect the dots, it’s rather obvious that Djokovic is not 100%.
This is the case despite Djokovic playing it down in front of the media for the last few days. However, what does all of this mean for Djokovic going into the Australian Open this year? Let’s take a quick look.
The Djokovic Injury – Doubtful It Will Prompt a Withdrawal
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Although things are looking a little bleak for the Serbian, I seriously doubt that he will withdraw from the tournament. Let’s be honest – it’s Novak Djokovic, and he missed the 2022 Australian Open in a rather infamous fashion. The man is chasing history in terms of Grand Slam titles right now, and his biggest rival, Rafael Nadal is involved in the tournament.
Yet besides that, I feel there are two obvious reasons why this injury won’t lead to a shock withdrawal announcement from Djokovic:
His Superhuman Recovery Powers
If you cast your mind back to the 2021 Australian Open, we witnessed a similar situation with Djokovic. He had a seemingly severe abdominal injury that he picked up in the early rounds. Yet he did what Novak Djokovic seems to be able to do with amazing regularity – recover and heal in order to make it through the event. And not only did he make it through the event, but he also won the thing by dominating Medvedev in the final.
It’s fair to say that the Djokovic camp was hugely concerned at the 2021 Australian Open about this injury. Yet if he can do that in the midst of a slam, why could he not recover again this year?
What’s on the Line at the 2023 Australian Open
I feel that even if he isn’t able to fully recover from this hamstring injury, he will still compete at the Australian Open 2023. As mentioned above, Djokovic is chasing records. And perhaps most obviously, he is on the hunt to end his career as the undisputed GOAT of the sport. With Rafael Nadal seeded one at this year’s tournament, I’m sure Djokovic feels that he will be the one to stop him.
Let’s not forget that the next slam is Roland Garros too. So if Djokovic was to withdraw here he leaves the GOAT title wide open for Nadal.
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