Djokovic sympathises with Nadal over injury woes; reveals similar concerns in 2021

Novak Djokovic has expressed his sympathies for rival Rafael Nadal who had to pull out of the Wimbledon 2022 tournament due to an abdominal tear. The Serbian explained that he faced a similar situation during his Australian Open 2021 clash against Taylor Fritz, but could manage the pain fairly well.

Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic expresses sympathy for Rafael Nadal

While speaking to Serbian reporters ahead of his Wimbledon 2022 final clash against Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic said, "I do not know what exactly is the nature of Rafa's injury. I heard that it is an abdominal muscle tear, but I do not know which muscle. I tore an oblique muscle on my left side during the match against (Taylor) Fritz (in the Australian Open 2021). It is clear that it is extremely hard to play under those conditions, but the whole process depends on where exactly the tear is. Personally, I had the most pain while serving."

Nadal suffered an abdominal tear in his quarter-final clash against Fritz. While he managed to defeat the American in five sets, he was forced to withdraw from the tournament before his semi-final clash against Kyrgios to avoid aggravating the injury. Similar to Djokovic, Nadal had also cited that it was extremely difficult for him to serve due to his injury woes.

"I have a tear in the (abdominal) muscle. If I keep going, the injury is going to be worse and worse," said the 36-year-old Spaniard. "I made my decision because I believe that I can't win two matches under these circumstances. I can't serve. It's not only that I can't serve at the right speed, but it's also that I can't do the normal movement to serve."

In his comments, Djokovic then also went on to add what helped him to carry on despite his injury concerns. "Together with my physiotherapist Uli, we managed to handle it to a degree that allowed me to play. Although it sounds crazy, I felt better as the time went by. An MRI scan showed that the tear got bigger, but we managed to numb the pain – I was not feeling it during matches, which allowed me to go all the way."