“Olympics is way more important for Novak Djokovic” : Mats Wilander
Novak Djokovic was forced to withdraw from the 2024 French Open owing to his right knee injury. The Serbian managed to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in the last 16 of the French Open, however, he had to withdraw from the tournament before his last eight clash against Casper Ruud.
This has put his participation in the grass court season in doubt. A huge summer lies ahead for the Serbian, who will also be eyeing an elusive gold medal at the Olympics. Eurosport expert Mats Wilander believes that Novak Djokovic should prioritize the Paris Olympics ahead of the grass court season.
Mats Wilander also believes this is certainly the beginning of the end of the Big Three Era. Rafael Nadal is likely to retire by end of the season, whereas, Novak Djokovic has also started to struggle with his fair share of injuries.
“It’s starting to become the end of an era. You watch Rafa [Nadal] play here and what he said afterwards, and he’s still keen to play more. We know Novak is keen to play for a couple more years. Hopefully, he can get back. Wimbledon is important, but the Olympics is way more important for Novak Djokovic. That’s what he has to get ready for,” said Wilander.
“There’s no time to blame anyone” : Alex Corretja on Novak Djokovic’s injury crisis in Paris
Novak Djokovic slide during the second set against Francisco Cerundolo in the last 16 seemed to have worsened his knee issues. However, Eurosport expert Alex Corretja believes that there is no time for anyone to play the blame game here, as the focus should be on Novak’s recovery.
“Going into the grass-court season, the summer is going to be very important. I hope he’s only going to take some days to come back. We agree that having those back-to-back matches affected everything; his body, his knee. That slide that he did provoked it a little bit more. Now, there’s no time to blame anyone. It happens, it’s tennis. He needs to recover, and that’s the most important thing. I wish him the best of luck, always,” said Corretja.
Novak Djokovic will undergo a surgery soon which will eventually decide his schedule for the rest of the season. The Serbian played two tight five-set matches at the 2024 French Open, which also took a toll on his physical health. He is all set to lose his world number one ranking to Jannik Sinner in revised ATP Rankings which will be published next Monday.
