Djokovic reveals injury status: ‘I have no concern’

Novak Djokovic partnered Fernando Verdasco to a dominant 6-1, 6-1 doubles victory against Alexander Bublik and Karen Khachanov on Monday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. But perhaps the biggest news of the day was the update the Serbian provided on the injury that forced him to retire during his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev.

“I haven't felt any pain, so I've been feeling great training the past 10 days, and past three days here in Doha,” Djokovic 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.”

Djokovic has battled through injury and found a way to triumph before. But the 37-year-old revealed after retiring in Melbourne he had suffered a muscle tear that proved too much to overcome.

“I obviously focused mostly on my recovery of the muscle tear that I had. I recovered very well, then I started to train,” Djokovic said. “So I've been training tennis, I've been training for the past 10 days or so. I did quite a bit of fitness, and spent time with my family in my country, and here I am.”

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The former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings is excited to compete in Doha, where he has not played since the start of the 2019 season. Djokovic is a two-time titlist at the tournament and owns a 15-2 record at the event according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

“I always enjoyed myself here,” Djokovic said. “The tournament was played in the first week of the season, prior to Australia, so it was actually a great week for all of us preparing for Australian Open, and flying to Australia through Doha.”

This week Djokovic will try to claim the 100th tour-level title of his career. Having lifted 99 trophies, including 24 at majors, 40 at ATP Masters 1000s and seven at the Nitto ATP Finals, the Serbian has accomplished a lot, but he is still hungry for more.

“I feel the cramps in my stomach before the every match. I'm stressed, I'm nervous, I'm excited. So, it's a good sign, because after all of these years of competing on the Tour and everything I achieved, I still feel that, I still feel the jitters,” Djokovic said. “It's a good sign because I still care about doing this, and I feel and I hope that my active career that keeps going is also positively affecting the overall tennis ecosystem. I like to believe that. And hopefully inspiring younger generations to come and watch tennis, grab a tennis racquet, participate in our sport in any shape or form.”

His first-round singles opponent is former World No. 6 Matteo Berrettini. Djokovic has won their four previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings.

“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,” Djokovic said. “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.”