Djokovic to be Sidelined by Wrist Injury

April 21, 2014 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

A wrist injury that hampered Novak Djokovic since the beginning of last week in Monte Carlo will force the six-time Grand Slam champion to miss some time. Following his loss to Roger Federer in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Saturday, the Serb said he struggled to put any power into his serve or returns to the nagging wrist pain.

The injury does not appear to be anything serious as Djokovic expressed optimism that it won’t require surgery, but the second-ranked player in the world was visibly hurting from the pain and had the wrist heavily wrapped up as he dropped his semifinal match.

Despite playing through the pain in the first few legs of the tournament, a long battle with Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the quarterfinals aggravated the injury. The match lasted more than two hours, and Djokovic said the long rallies and long points put extra stress on that wrist.

He did not want to bow out of his match with Federer in the semifinals because of his pride and his desire to not retire from matches because of pain.

“The pain was there every single day from 10 days ago. At some stages it was very painful," said Djokovic. "I didn't want to pull out against Federer because then people start talking different things about me and my withdrawals and so forth … hat was the main reason."

There is no timetable for his return to the court, and Djokovic plans to rest his wrist until it feels good enough where he can play at the championship level he is used to. He was scheduled to meet with a doctor and have an MRI this week to see if there is any serious damage done.


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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