{"id":264790,"date":"2023-01-19T20:30:49","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T21:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=264790"},"modified":"2023-01-20T22:59:32","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T22:59:32","slug":"i-am-worried-djokovics-concerning-reveal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=264790","title":{"rendered":"'I am worried': Djokovic's concerning reveal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic<\/a> propped up his left shoe on a courtside sign so he could stretch out a hamstring that he acknowledged afterward concerns him. He grimaced while flexing the muscle after one point, hopped on his right leg to keep weight off the left after another. He took a medical timeout while a trainer re-taped him during the second set \u2014 which Djokovic would go on to drop.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Murray slams 'disrespectful' Open 'farce'<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE: \ufeff<\/strong>Warriors win tug-of-war for teen prodigy<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

AS IT HAPPENED:<\/strong> Murray outlasts Kokkinakis in legendary marathon\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

As if he needed another distraction, Djokovic was flustered enough by a heckler that he asked chair umpire Fergus Murphy to have the spectator removed from Rod Laver Arena, telling the official: \u201cThe guy\u2019s drunk out of his mind. … He\u2019s been provoking. He just wants to get in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Djokovic summed up afterward: \u201cIt was a lot happening tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Djokovic's<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what did not happen Thursday evening at the Australian Open: Djokovic did not lose his way entirely and, most importantly, he did not lose in the second round, which is what happened to both No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal and No. 2 seed Casper Ruud.<\/p>\n

Seeking a 10th trophy at Melbourne Park, to add to his own record, and a 22nd Grand Slam title overall, to equal Nadal\u2019s, Djokovic put everything aside and beat 191st-ranked French qualifier Enzo Couacaud 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0. It was Djokovic\u2019s 23rd consecutive win at the Australian Open, a streak that paused a year ago when he couldn\u2019t play in the tournament because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am worried. I mean, I cannot say that I\u2019m not. I have reason to be worried,\u201d Djokovic said about the hamstring.<\/p>\n

"My situation with my injury is not ideal \u2026 I have to take it day by day.<\/p>\n

"I'm not practising in the days between because I'm trying to give myself more time for my leg to be in somewhat more of an ideal state.<\/p>\n

\"Djokovic<\/p>\n

"But I have to accept the circumstances and try to adjust myself.<\/p>\n

"I have two choices \u2013 to leave or to keep going. I am going to keep going and try and play and compete. I don't know how my body is going to react. I hope for the best."\ufeff<\/p>\n

A group of people dressed in red-and-white striped shirts straight out of \u201cWhere's Wally?\u201d left the arena after Djokovic pleaded his case with Murphy about one of them giving him a particularly hard time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I have a problem with is when somebody\u2019s crossing the line, numerous times … and saying things that were not respectful at all,\u201d Djokovic explained at his news conference, adding that it had been going on for more than 1 1\/2 hours. \u201cI had enough, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

This did not shape up as a contest of much intrigue, given that the fourth-seeded Djokovic has done all that he has done, while Couacaud entered with a career mark of 2-5. And whatever Couacaud\u2019s chances were beforehand seemed to dim just four games in, when he turned his right ankle and required a visit from a trainer.<\/p>\n

\"Novak<\/p>\n

But Couacaud overcame that and played freely, conjuring some terrific shot-making.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just have to deal with it. One of those circumstances and situations where things are maybe not going perfectly your way,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cBut that\u2019s sport."<\/p>\n

He was speaking about how his foe was playing, yet the sentiment captured the night well.<\/p>\n

There was a bit of Djokovic's usual interplay with the crowd when he got his game in order. After breaking to lead 2-0 in the last set, he jogged around his side of the court, as if to show his opponent, and everyone else, just how well he was feeling and just how well he was playing.<\/p>\n

At another moment, he basked in roars of approval by pointing his index finger to his right ear, asking for more.<\/p>\n

Couacaud managed to have some fun, too, when he briefly made things a bit interesting, celebrating his claim of the second set by pointing to the court as if to indicate, \u201cThis is my house!\u201d<\/p>\n

Which, of course, it is not. The place belongs to Djokovic, who will play No. 27 Grigor Dimitrov next, and knows that two highly ranked contenders are no longer possible obstacles.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic propped up his left shoe on a courtside sign so he could stretch out a hamstring that he acknowledged afterward concerns him. He […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264790"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=264790"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264792,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264790\/revisions\/264792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=264790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=264790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=264790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}