“It got worse,” Novak Djokovic’s concerning post-match confession about his wrist injury is bound to puzzle fans

Novak Djokovic-led team Serbia lost to team Australia in the quarterfinal of the United Cup.

“It got worse,” Novak Djokovic’s concerning post-match confession about his wrist injury is bound to puzzle fans

Novak Djokovic (Credits: Open Source/ X)

Novak Djokovic recently suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Alex de Minaur during his singles encounter for Team Serbia against the Aussie at the United Cup on Wednesday, January 3.

During the match, the 36-year-old was witnessed clutching his right wrist almost repeatedly and further took a medical timeout to tend to the potential injury concern in the opening set. Subsequently, the Serb later addressed the aforementioned issue after concluding his match with Minaur.

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World No. 1 Djokovic has led his team Serbia to overpower team China in Group E stages of the Perth event, later setting up for a quarterfinal clash against team Australia. However, the 36-year-old singles face off against the Aussie did not deliver the expected result owing to the former’s wrist discomfort.

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In a post-match press conference after the match, Novak Djokovic reflected on his wrist issue and stated that he had been feeling discomfort since the past two days. However, the Serb added that he would potentially recover for his upcoming Australian Open campaign. He said:

“I have had discomfort for two days. During yesterday’s match and today’s match especially, it got worse, but I don’t want to spend too much time on this and take away from Alex’s victory. Now I will try to recover for the Australian Open. I think it will be fine by then,” Djokovic said during a press conference via X/Twitter.

Nole has enjoyed an exuberant 2023 season by bagging three out of four Grand Slam singles titles and with it, becoming the first tennis professional to level Margaret Court’s 24 major title record in the Open Era.

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Novak Djokovic addresses his surprise loss to Alex de Minaur

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic addressed his surprise loss to Alex de Minaur in the same post-match press conference at the 2024 United Cup. The 36-year-old also acknowledged that he knew his fitness levels were not at par with the required standard but decided to represent his team at the Perth event.

“No, not much, to be honest. I knew that probably not going to be at my 100% physically, emotionally, mentally game-wise in the opening week of a season. Neither did I expect that. Neither did I want that, to be honest. It’s all a part of the buildup for Australian Open, you know. So that’s where I want to perform at my best. So again, it’s never nice to lose a match, of course, but, you know, it’s not really going to stay with me much,” said Djokovic in a post-match press conference.

Djokovic’s defeat in the quarterfinal men’s singles category of the tournament was followed by compatriot Natalja Stevanovic loss to Alja Tomljanovic in the women’s category, thereby sending Australia into the semifinals.

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