New York: Novak Djokovic heads into the US Open in sizzling form after collecting a fourth Wimbledon title and completing a sweep of Masters series events over the last month, but the Serb admitted Wednesday there were times when the long road back from injury brought ‘more than a few moments of doubt’ about his future.
An elbow injury forced Djokovic to retire against Czech Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2017. After that came a series of early tournament exits and, finally, surgery.
“I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned about myself is how impatient I was,” the 13-time Grand Slam winner told reporters, reflecting on his recovery process.
“That was probably one of the hardest ways for me to learn to be patient. I’ve never faced any major injury in my career – (for) which I was very fortunate. I guess even with the care that I had the body took a lot of beating and eventually I had to address the elbow injury more seriously,” added the former World No.1.
With the world’s best players descending on Flushing Meadows next week, Djokovic is aiming to add a third US Open title to his name — and to perfect his serve.
“It’s still a work in progress with the serve, to be honest,” Djokovic said. “I’m aware that I can’t serve as the guys who are 6’10” obviously can. I’m not looking for that speed – I’m looking more for precision and accuracy.”
Novak keen to know others
New York: Novak Djokovic is looking forward to possibly forming a doubles dream-team with Roger Federer as Europe prepares to take on the Rest of the World in the Laver Cup next month. Djokovic and Federer will spearhead the European challenge in the second staging of the tournament, which takes place in Chicago, September 21-23. The other members of the team are Germany’s Alexander Zverev, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Belgium’s David Goffin. The Serb and Federer are expected to play doubles together. “I am looking forward to it if it comes to that,” said Djokovic. “I am looking forward to spending time with (Federer) and all the other players. This is the time to know each other better.”