Novak Djokovic declares 'everything is far from ok' in worrying Wimbledon update
Novak Djokovic has spoken candidly at Wimbledon about his struggles.
Novak Djokovic alarmingly declared "everything is far from OK" when discussing his knee injury as he shared an update before a Wimbledon fourth-round tie with Holger Rune.
The seven-time summer Grand Slam champion underwent surgery on his knee to repair a torn meniscus following his withdrawal at the French Open.
Few expected Djokovic to return and play at Wimbledon, but he turned up with strapping and brushed aside Alexei Popyrin, Jacob Fearnley and Vit Kopriva to set up a tie with Rune for a place in the quarter-finals.
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Rehabilitation had been seemingly going well with Djokovic training and playing at full capacity, but after reaching the fourth round he revealed that there were still some injury concerns going into the second week of SW19.
"I'm glad you think everything is OK, that's how it should work, but everything is far from OK," Djokovic told Serbian outlet SportKlub.
"Well, about that another time - the movement was a lot better compared to the first two matches, I'm more free in that context, but everything is far from OK, I'm constantly working on the table to get ready for each subsequent match."
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Djokovic has not yet repeated such concerns to the British press in his press conferences at Wimbledon, but opening up more candidly to the media in his homeland will worry those rooting for him to equal Roger Federer's record of eight men's singles titles this year.
After his second-round win over Brit Jacob Fearnley, Djokovic did explain how he was likely to improve the longer he stayed in the competition, but faces his toughest test so far against the world No. 15 on Monday.
"I do feel that (knee injury) has an impact on my movement a little bit in terms of the speed," he said after defeating Fearnley. "It's not yet there where I want it to be. Kind of late on the balls that I'm normally not late on.
"That's the part which I guess comes with matches. So the longer I stay in the tournament, I think the better the chances that my movement will improve.
"The earlier rounds is where I'm still a little bit rusty on the movement, I think. That's what I felt today, at least. But yeah, I don't worry about reinjuring my knee. I don't have time nor energy to think about it, nor do I think it's worth it. I wouldn't be here unless I think that - not just myself, but the whole team - that I'm ready to compete at this level."