Returning Djokovic still managing elbow injury
City ready to walk away from Sanchez deal amid United interest
Former world number one Novak Djokovic admited his elbow is not yet 100 percent as the Serb prepares to return from six months out at the Australian Open.
The six-time champion, who last played competitively at Wimbledon in July, said he is still managing the injury, which has caused him to abbreviate his service action, Reuters reported.
“It hasn’t been 100 percent yet healed,” Djokovic told reporters at Melbourne Park on Saturday. “But right now it’s at the level where I can compete, and every day is getting better.”
Djokovic said he had been convinced by doctors that he would not be doing the injury any more damage by playing in Melbourne.
“I‘m hoping that it can be 100 percent at the start of the tournament. I don’t know how it’s going to behave. Even if it’s 100 percent healed, after six months of no competition, you never know how you’re going to react,” the 30-year-old added.
Djokovic tested out his elbow, and his new serve, in an exhibition match earlier this week, beating Austria’s Dominic Thiem, in straight sets. ”I‘m happy with the new service motion,“he said. ”I don’t want to say ‘new serve’, but new service motion. “I feel like I spend less energy but I‘m more efficient. I‘m really looking forward to trying out my new serve here.”
Seeded 14th having dropped down the rankings during his injury hiatus, Djokovic said he was confident he could still compete.
“I still know what I‘m capable of and I believe in my own abilities to win against the best players in the world,” he said.
Ready to step up
Grigor Dimitrov and Alexander Zverev, two men who made perhaps the biggest steps forward in 2017, believe they are ready to contend for the title at the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on Monday.
Dimitrov starts the year ranked third, having won his biggest title in November when he triumphed at the ATP Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London.
Germany’s Zverev won five titles in 2017, including two Masters 1000 titles, finishing the year just behind Dimitrov as the world number four.
Besides world number one Rafael Nadal and defending champion Roger Federer, Dimitrov and Zverev are considered genuine title threats.
However, Bulgarian Dimitrov, a semifinalist in Melbourne 12 months ago, is trying not to get ahead of himself.
“Until it’s done, I don’t want to have any (sixth) sense, to be honest,” the Bulgarian told reporters in Melbourne on Saturday.
“Obviously I’ve achieved certain things that I’ve always wanted to. I always wanted to be a top-five player. I did it. I wanted to win a Masters 1000 event and I did it. I haven’t dreamt that much about winning at the O2, but I did it.”
Zverev emerged from the pack in 2017 with his five titles, including Masters 1000 victories at Rome and Montreal.
The only thing lacking from the German’s list of honors is success at the grand slams, having only made it to the last 16 just once, at Wimbledon last summer.
“I think improving the grand slam performances is one thing (he needs),” he said.
“The furthest I’ve got was to the fourth round of Wimbledon. A lot of times not because I played bad, but because I played very good opponents.
“I lost to Nadal here. I lost to (Milos) Raonic in Wimbledon. Every time in five sets. That’s nothing to worry about too much. But obviously that’s one goal for me this year.”
Zverev, who is now coached by former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, said he had no doubts about his ability.
“I’m number four in the world for a reason. Not trying to sound cocky or anything, but I’ve always said that I’ve always been working hard physically, I’m always trying to improve the performance at the grand slams.
“Hopefully I can do so this week.” Manchester City indicated that the Citizens are ready to walk away from negotiations to sign Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez as José Mourinho admitted he is interested in adding the Chile forward to his Manchester United squad.
Having come close to signing Sanchez in the summer, City had felt that a deal to secure the arrival of the 29-year-old in the January transfer window was imminent after it agreed personal terms with his representatives over a contract worth £13 million a season, the Guardian reported.
A verbal offer of £20 million was lodged last week, with City informing its Arsenal counterparts that it was unwilling to raise its offer despite being informed it would take a £35 million bid to make the move happen this month.
However, after United indicated on Thursday that it was willing to offer Sanchez higher wages and pay £25 million to bring him to Old Trafford, its neighbor has warned it will not be held to ransom for a player whose contract at the Emirates expires in June.
That appears to have opened the door for United, with Mourinho admitting on Friday he would be interested in what he described as a “phenomenal player”.
“At the general level what I can say is myself and Manchester United board, owners, we don’t believe a lot in the January market, we don’t believe in signing a player just to sign a player,” Mourinho said. “What we believe really is there are some players in the football world if you have the chance to sign them in January, March or July, you have to try and that’s it. City agreed a £60 million deal with Arsenal in August, only for the transfer to collapse when Arsène Wenger failed to complete a move for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar on deadline day. Wenger admitted on Friday that he was unsure whether the player signed from Barcelona in 2014 would still be at the club next month but insisted Sanchez would not be allowed to leave unless Gunners secure a replacement.
City had been convinced of Sanchez’s desire to work with Pep Guardiola again and was prepared to wait until the summer to sign him if necessary until a knee injury suffered by Gabriel Jesus on New Year’s Eve appeared to alter its plans. Yet with the Brazil striker now expected to be back in training within three weeks, there is less urgency to add to the squad this month.
Guardiola, whose City side travels to Anfield to face fourth-placed Liverpool today looking to extend its unbeaten run in the Premier League this season to 23 matches, refused to discuss any move for Sanchez.
“I understand completely this question, I understand you are doing your job, but you know my answer,” he said. “I am not going [to speak about it]. I’m focused on Liverpool, believe me. Alexis – everyone knows how good he is, but I am not going to answer about Alexis or other players.”