Djokovic opens up about his summer from hell
NOVAK DJOKOVIC shed light on the cause of his summer slump last night, admitting ‘ private’ issues during Wimbledon were compounded by a wrist injury at the Olympics.
The world No 1 seemed in cheerful enough mood at the draw for next week’s US Open, which he goes into having played just nine singles matches since winning the French Open in early June.
Djokovic did nothing to dampen speculation that he may have been dealing with marital problems when losing in the third round at SW19, but emphasised everything on that front is now resolved. Of more immediate impact for the next fortnight — which sees Andy Murray being given a more comfortable-looking draw — he said his Olympic first-round loss was contributed to by soreness in his left wrist, which he is still having to contend with.
When asked what had happened at Wimbledon, he replied: ‘It was nothing physical, there was some other thing that I was going through privately but nothing linked to the wrist injury.’
All did not appear well at the All England Club, where he lost to Sam Querrey with his wife Jelena unusually sitting several rows away from his support box.
Whatever happened, he said, it was no longer a problem. ‘Everything is fine,’ said Djokovic. ‘I’m in a position like everyone, we all have private issues that you have to encounter and need to overcome to evolve as a human being — that was the period for me. It happened right there, it was resolved. Life is going on.’
Having won the Canadian Open, Djokovic lost in the first round of the Olympics against Juan Martin del Potro. He suffered a setback with his wrist prior to the event and it is still affecting him.
‘The wrist hasn’t been in an ideal state for three-and-a-half weeks, but I’m doing everything in my power to make sure I am as close to 100 per cent as possible during the course of this tournament, at least for the beginning.
‘It happened in Rio just a few days before thehe start of the tournament.nt. I experienced it for the first time in my career,’ added thee Serb, who left the e court there in tears and was said to have truncated his practice session yesterday.
Djokovic was given a tougher- looking draw than n his biggest threateat Murray, and playslays former Wimbledonedon semi-finalist Jerzyzy Jano-Janowicz in the first round.d
Murray, whose 22-match winning streak was snapped in the final of the Cincinnati Masters last Sunday, cannot be displeased with how it may shape up.
He faces powerful Czech Lukas Rosol in the first round. They had a testy encounter at the Munich Open last year, where the Scot was picked up telling him: ‘ Nobody likes you on tour. Everybody hates you.’ However, the 29-year-old said last night: ‘I spoke to him after the match. I have always got on fine with him apart from that day. He’s a strong guy who goes for his shots and has caused upsets before.’ Murray added that he took two days off following Cincinnati, and had been limiting his training to keep himself fresh. His first seeded opponent, in the third round, is likely to be Gilles Simon. In the quarters he is due to face Kei Nishikori, whom he thrashed at the Olympics, with a potential semi-final against Stan Wawrinka. There are four GGB men into the first round, with Aljaz Bedene given a plum tie against Australian Nick Kyrgios. Kyle Edmund also has a seed in Richard Gasquet, while new British No 2 Dan Evans has an easier task, against American wildcard Rajeev Ram. Jo Konta must be considered an outside contender and she is paired with another American wildcard, Bethanie Mattek-Sands.