{"id":361499,"date":"2024-01-21T04:33:51","date_gmt":"2024-01-21T05:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=361499"},"modified":"2024-01-21T06:02:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T06:02:09","slug":"physically-wounded-djokers-box-exposes-major-worry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=361499","title":{"rendered":"'Physically wounded' Djoker's box exposes major worry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic<\/a> has overcome illness to reach the quarter finals of the Australian Open, but his performance has failed to convince experts that he's at his best. \ufeff<\/p>\n

The day match against Adrian Mannarino at Rod Laver Arena suffered a slight delay due to rain, with the roof closed to ensure no further interruptions with the Serbian going on to win 6-0, 6-0, 6-3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Djokovic started the match on the back foot, losing the first two points of his first service game, including a double fault on the first point, before rallying back to win the game. \ufeff<\/p>\n

LIVE COVERAGE:<\/strong> Australian Open 2024, day eight updates\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> The 'dangerous' stars flipping tennis on its head<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Why Djokovic photo means so much to Medvedev<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The world No.1 has been battling a flu this week<\/a>, but admitted in recent days that he hadn't had a COVID test.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Djokovic went on to take a 3-0 lead in the first set but had to do it in over 17 minutes with an average length of 10 shots per point in the match. \ufeff<\/p>\n

In commentary for Nine, Todd Woodbridge said the closed roof was a contributing factor to the long rallies, with high humidity in the arena making conditions on an otherwise mild day oppressive.<\/p>\n

After taking out the first set, Djokovic won the first two games of the second rather quickly. However, the third game stretched for over 15 minutes and the \ufeff10-time Australian Open<\/a> winner's body language suggested all was not well.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Australian Open live and exclusive on Nine,<\/strong><\/em> <\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a> <\/em>and ad-free on<\/strong><\/em> <\/em>Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

"Djokovic is one of the most silent assassins we have seen in tennis \u2013 he doesn't grunt until late in the match or if the point gets really long," Jim Courier explained in commentary for Nine.<\/p>\n

"He was grunting in the last game on every point. He is without question physically wounded at the moment.<\/p>\n

"He is sick. He told us he was sick five days before the tournament. You would have thought by now he would have healed up.<\/p>\n

"Something is still not right inside his body because his energy levels are not what we are used to seeing.<\/p>\n

"It may not show it on the scoreboard \u2026 (but) Novak is showing his mental toughness here. He's trying to be as efficient as possible."<\/p>\n

Djokovic pushed on to win the set 6-0, but social media commentary suggested more concern for his health with former Australian Open tournament director Paul McNamee making an observation on Djokovic's box, specifically coach Goran Ivanisevic.<\/p>\n

"In all my time, I've never seen a player box so concerned at five love up first set than Goran & co in Djokovic's box … he's clearly not well … what mental fortitude to be able to push through it, but there will be limits," he wrote on X.\ufeff<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaulFMcNamee\/status\/1748907501570138322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaulFMcNamee\/status\/1748908822138405286?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Djokovic managed to keep defying any issues but conceded three games against Mannarino in the third set with every notch on the scoreboard for the Frenchman bringing a loud cheer from the crowd.<\/p>\n

Post-match, Djokovic attempted to put to bed any concerns around his health saying he's "really pleased" with his condition.<\/p>\n

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

"I mean you always want to be efficient, you always want to finish the job \ufeffas soon as possible in straight sets but it's not always possible because as the tournament progresses you're playing tougher opponents … obviously best of five you never know what's going to happen," he said on Nine's coverage.<\/p>\n

"I wasn't thinking about it, I was kind of going with the flow and last couple of days have been really good so it's going in a positive direction, health wise, tennis wise so I'm really pleased with where I am at the moment."<\/p>\n

Djokovic's quarter final will be played on Tuesday. \ufeffHe'll meet the winner of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic has overcome illness to reach the quarter finals of the Australian Open, but his performance has failed to convince experts that he's at […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":361501,"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\/361499"}],"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=361499"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361504,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361499\/revisions\/361504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/361501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=361499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=361499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=361499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}