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| Novak Djokovic will miss the rest of 2017 season with an elbow injury, retired midway through his Wimbledon quarter-final vs Tomas Berdych. |
Twelve-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic will miss the rest of the
season with an elbow injury. The 30-year-old Serb was forced to retire from his
Wimbledon quarter-final against Tomas Berdych earlier this month because of the
problem, and will now sit out of next month's US Open.
In a live Facebook video post from Belgrade, the former world number one
said that after suffering from the injury for a year-and-a-half, he had
"made a decision to not play any competition, any tournaments" for
the rest of 2017.
"Unfortunately this is the decision that had to be made at this
moment. Wimbledon was probably the toughest tournament for me in terms of
feeling the pain that has escalated," he said.
Between mid-January 2015 and June 2016, Djokovic won 17 of his 22 finals
played in 24 tournaments. It seemed nothing could interrupt his dominance of
world tennis.
But for months the Serbian national hero now fourth in the world
rankings has been a shadow of his former self.
Since winning the French Open last year to complete the career Grand
Slam, he has failed to claim another major title.
He crashed out of the Australian Open in the second round and the French
Open in the last eight.
Djokovic said that, having spoken to various medical specialists,
"they all agree that I need rest, that I need time".
"This is one of those injuries when nothing can really help
instantly, you just have to allow natural rehabilitation to take its
course," he went on.
"And professionally this is obviously not an easy decision for me,
but I'm trying to look from the positive side of everything."
The decision means he will also miss the semi-final of the Davis Cup in
France in mid-September.
He said he would need a couple of months without the racket but that
surgery was "not an option".
With Andre Agassi continuing as his coach while he recovers, Djokovic
now intends to be ready to start the new season at the beginning of 2018.
That would mean he could compete in January's Australian Open, his
favourite tournament and one where he is the joint most successful male player
with the legendary Roy Emerson on six titles.
"I will take this time to heal, to do all the different suggested
methods of rehabilitation or healing processes so I can get back on the court
asap."
Djokovic's long-time rivals and fellow tennis greats Roger Federer and
Rafael Nadal have also taken lenthy spells out of the sport to recover from
injuries over the last two years, and both returned to win Grand Slam titles
this season.
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