Novak Djokovic shakes off injury scare as Serbia reach United Cup quarter-finals
Novak Djokovic has battled his way through a wrist injury as Serbia secured a dream United Cup quarter-final showdown with Australia on a day of high drama and confusion in Perth.
The world No 1 was troubled by his right wrist during practice on Tuesday morning, with the injury requiring intense treatment from his physio. Djokovic was cleared to play his singles match against Jiri Lehecka later in the day. It was just as well for Serbia after Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova defeated Olga Danilovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to give the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead in the tie.
The 24-time grand slam winner looked on track for an easy victory against Lehecka after winning the first set and shooting out to a 3-1 lead in the second. But with his wrist troubles growing as the match wore on, Djokovic started making a series of uncharacteristic unforced errors. He took a medical time-out after losing the secondset tie-break and came out firing with a double break in the third set to seal the 6-1, 6-7 (7-3), 6-1 victory.
“I managed to play through,” Djokovic said. “It’s not the first time or the last time, these things happen. You just have to manage. You have to find a solution and thankfully I managed to finish the match.”
Confusion reigned after the match as to whether Serbia had already done enough to qualify for the quarter-finals. The initial declaration from officials was even if Serbia went on to lose the mixed doubles, and therefore the tie, they would qualify for the quarter-finals as the best second-placed team in Perth. But that proved to be wrong, with organisers later clarifying that Serbia would be out if they lost the mixed doubles in straight sets.
Djokovic opted out of the mixed doubles – most likely thinking Serbia had already qualified for the quarterfinals. Things looked bleak for Serbia after Danilovic and Hamad Medjedovic lost the first set to Miriam Kolodziejova and Petr Nouza. But Serbia’s passage was safe when they won the second set in a tie-break, with Djokovic clearly delighted and relieved as he watched on from the sidelines. Serbia went on to win the match 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 10-8 in a match tie-break.
It meant Serbia topped Group E, and they will take on Group C winners Australia in a quarter-final at RAC Arena on Wednesday night. That will pit Djokovic up against world No 12 Alex de Minaur, who showcased his potential with a devastating 6-4, 6-2 win over world No 10 Taylor Fritz on Monday. Poland will face China in the other quarter-final in Perth.
Djokovic’s wrist didn’t look to be affecting him early in his singles match. He broke Lehecka in the fourth and sixth games to wrap up the first set in 34 minutes, and the match looked a foregone conclusion when Djokovic raced out to a 3-1 lead in the second.
Lehecka sprung to life to twice break Djokovic on the way to a 5-3 lead. Djokovic broke back to send it to a tiebreak but a series of unforced errors handed Lehecka the set. The medical time-out after the tie-break seemed to work its magic as Djokovic raced through the third set in 35 minutes to close out the match.