MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA) – After suffering a ‘muscle tear’, world number one Novak Djokovic gave the practice on Saturday a miss. The wait continues over his ability to take part in the fourth round match.
The Serbian champion has a record eight-time win at the Melbourne Park Arena to his credit. He slipped during the third set of Friday’s third-round match against Taylor Fritz and had to seek treatment.
He said he was sure it was a muscle tear on the right side. He required further medical attention during the third set before he went on to script a five-set win and set up a clash against Milos Raonic on Sunday.
A winner of the Grand Slam 17 times, Djokovic was not sure if he would be able to make a recovery from his injury and was missing from the official training list on Saturday at Melbourne Park.
There are reports that he would have to undergo scans before a decision on his title defence is taken.
He was allowed the maximum possible time to recover by organisers and his match against Canadian Raonic was listed as the final match of Sunday evening on Rod Laver Arena.
Australian Open Chief Executive Craig Tiley expressed confidence saying the Serbian will be able to tide over injury and play on Sunday.
“We’ll see him. He’s resilient, he’s tough,” Tiley told Australian broadcaster Channel Nine.
“He’ll wake up today and he’ll figure out what it is and he’ll go and get the appropriate treatment. The way he was, those two sets, I was pretty surprised.